Barley Tea – Mugicha
Wednesday June 24, 2009
When the weather gets warm, I crave mugicha (roasted barley tea). It is often served cold and is a refreshing summer drink in Japan. It is probably similar to ice tea in North America, but mugicha is not usually sweetened. When I was a child, a big jar of mugicha, made by my mom, was always in the fridge. When I saw the jar of mugicha, I felt summer had arrived. I still like drinking mugicha in the summer. Studies show it may help to reduce stress, which is also good news for me.
Japanese translation
Comments
Excuse me, but don’t you mean “barley” not “barely”? Just wondering!
Just wanting to say thanks for the blogs and lessons on Japanese.
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When I check my email it is always there to brighten my day.
Last year I went to Tokyo for 3 months to travel and study Japanese at a language school. I was learning from zero, my japanese has improved soso this year. I hope I can comment in Japanese next time, I think I could for some of the words and phrases in this letter to nihongo but it is a little awkward haha. Maybe next time! Anyways thank you for doing this….keep up the good work
thanks,
Nick
I love mugicha as well. It is really a summer treat for me
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My intial reaction to tasting this tea in Japan was that it tasted like sticks and leaf litter. But after drinking it for an entire summer, the taste really grew on my and now I love it
I miss in now I’m back in the UK
I was in Nara, Japan for 3 weeks in May and before I left, I bought a big 52 bag economy package of mugicha – jumbo size tea bags – to make pitchers of tea. As I drink glasses of iced mugicha in my northern California home with temperatures nearing 100 degrees, it’s so refreshing! I can close my eyes and I’m back in Nara! Heaven on earth
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Cool! Koreans love Mugicha. You can drink it at any temperature. We call it Bolicha.
My wife is Japanese. She drinks mugicha all the time. I think it contains a high amount of caffein. She has a high blood pressure, so I always think that it is not so good for her. What do you think?
To Henrich K.: I understand that mugicha is naturally caffeine-free. Perhaps your wife enjoys other Japanese foods that may contribute to her high-blood pressure such as miso shiro and other highly salty (but delicious) foods.
Thanks Michelle Bailey.
Here is a translation in French
Quand vient l’été le thé 麦茶 me manque. On boit d’ordinaire ce 麦茶 froid et on peut dire que c’est une boisson classique de l’été japonais. Je pense que c’est comme l’Ice Tea de l’Amérique du Nord mais en général 麦茶 n’est pas sucré. Quand j’étais enfant, il y avait toujours une grande théière faite par ma mère et mise au réfrigérateur. Quand je la voyais, je sentais que c’était déjà l’été ! Même maintenant, je bois en été le thé que j’aime. Comme il parait que ses effets réduisent le stress, dans mes journées chargées, c’est la boisson idéale.
C’est une traduction un peu littérale qui peut aider les francophones amoureux de la langue Japonaise
A bientôt
By reading these entries, Muchiga sounds really good. Anyone know where I can find? I live in America but I’m not sure if grocery stores carry them. Its extremely hot where I live (Texas) lol..What do you guys think?
To Tunde – I’m guessing you could find mugicha in most Asian food markets in the larger Texas cities, but I’d call ahead first just to be on the safe side. Good luck! I bought a large economy pack of extra large tea bags when I was in Japan last May, so I’m all set for the long, hot California summers – it’s 99 degrees F. right now outside my NorCal home.
To Tunde,
I just found it on Amazon.com for $14 for 52 teabags, and it sounds like each bag makes a pitcher. I love mugicha after having in Japan in the summer. It’s great! It’s very mild, but very refreshing. Hope you can find some. : )
You should be able to get it at any big asian store, Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, The lables will be hard to understand but ask for help with someone who speaks good englsih, also i may be wrong but mugcha has no caffien, just look it up there are lots of sites about it. Matane