04.27.08
Summertime: time for Barley Water
Very nice summertime drink. And by making your own, you can tailor it to suit yourself—Meyer lemons instead of Eureka lemons, agave syrup instead of sugar, and so on. Here’s a simple recipe from Alton Brown:
2 quarts water
1 cup hulled barley
2 lemons
1/4 cup honeyPlace the water and barley into a medium saucepan; cover, set over high heat and bring to a boil. Once the barley comes to a boil, decrease the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. While the liquid is cooking, peel the lemons, being careful not to cut into the white pith. Juice the lemons and place the juice along with the peel into a 3-quart pitcher and set aside.After 30 minutes, strain the barley water through a fine mesh strainer into the pitcher. Discard the barley. Add the honey and stir to combine. Refrigerate until chilled.
In that recipe, for example, I would probably use pearled rather than hulled barley. Here’s another recipe:
- 5 whole lemons
- 1 cup barley
- 1 breakfast cup cut sugar
- 3 quarts boiling water
Soak the barley for several hours and strain.
Add the whole lemons, barley, and sugar to the boiling water. Boil for two hours.
Let it stand until cool, then strain and serve.
scott said,
27 April 2008 at 2:38 pm
Probably better than my previous experiences drinking barley. Twice at martial arts retreats “barley tea” was all we had to drink besides water. It was an entire weekend with no food and only this to drink.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottfeldstein/372112384/
Sorghum Crow said,
28 April 2008 at 7:04 am
Barley tea is made with roasted barley and is a common cool drink in Japan.
Mugi-cha is the Japanese term.