Mugicha — Roasted Barley Tea Culture
Japan-wide — summer barley tea tradition dating to Edo period
Mugicha (麦茶, roasted barley tea) is Japan's signature summer cold beverage — an unsweetened, caffeine-free infusion of roasted barley that produces a distinctly toasty, slightly bitter, refreshing cold drink consumed by all ages from summer to autumn. It is served in clear jugs in virtually every Japanese home and many restaurants during summer, replacing hot beverages. The flavour is nutty-roasted with a slight pleasant bitterness, and the tannins and phenols from the barley provide a dry, refreshing quality that makes it extremely quenching in humid Japanese summers. Mugicha is also deeply embedded in childhood nostalgia for Japanese adults — cold mugicha from the fridge on a humid summer night is one of Japan's most universal food memories. It is completely calorie-free, contains no caffeine, and is considered appropriate for young children. Commercial mugicha tea bags (Kataoka Bussan, Itoen) produce a completely adequate product; traditional roasted loose barley produces a more complex result.