Barley Tea (Mugicha)
Barley tea is an infusion of roasted barley grain (Hordeum vulgare), not a true tea and entirely caffeine-free. It is a daily staple across East Asia, known as mugicha in Japan, boricha in Korea, and damai cha in China, and is most often served chilled from the fridge through the summer. The flavor is toasty, nutty, and grain-sweet, closer to a light roasted broth than to anything floral or astringent.
Good barley tea smells distinctly of toasted grain and roasted bread, with a clean, sweet finish and no sour or stale edge. The roast level is the main quality variable: a lighter roast gives a softer, sweeter cup, while a darker roast is deeper and more coffee-adjacent, and neither is wrong, it is a matter of preference. Whole roasted grains generally give a fresher, rounder cup than fine-ground tea-bag dust, which can brew cloudy and flat. Check that the grain looks evenly roasted to a deep golden brown rather than scorched black, since over-roasted barley turns acrid. Because barley loses aroma over time, buy in sensible quantities and keep it sealed. Some products blend barley with roasted corn (a popular Korean combination), so read the label if you want pure barley.
The base material is roasted grain of common barley, Hordeum vulgare, a cereal grass rather than a botanical herb or flower. Production is concentrated in East Asia, with Japan, Korea, and China each having long-standing traditions and their own preferred roast styles. Processing is simple in principle: the hulled or unhulled grain is roasted until dark and aromatic, then either steeped loose, bagged, or boiled. The grain naturally contains no caffeine, which is part of why it is given freely to children and used as an everyday water substitute.
Two common approaches. Hot: use about 8 to 10 g of roasted grain per liter, water at 95 to 100°C, and steep or gently simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, then strain. Cold brew: drop a barley tea bag or a spoonful of grain into a jug of cold water and refrigerate for several hours, which gives a smoother, sweeter result that is the classic summer serve. It is hard to make bitter, but very long contact with the grains can make the liquor cloudy and faintly astringent, so strain once it reaches the strength you like. A single batch of grain gives most of its flavor in the first steep; a second, lighter steep is possible but noticeably weaker.
One of the cheapest infusions you can buy: roughly €3-8 (about $3-9) per 100 g for standard roasted grain or tea bags, with organic or artisan-roast versions running a little higher.
Prices reviewed June 2026
Corn Tea
Roasted corn tea is the closest cousin and a frequent blending partner in Korea, sweeter and more popcorn-like where barley is nuttier and slightly more savory.
Buckwheat Tea (Soba Cha)
Soba cha is the other major roasted-grain infusion of the region, earthier and more distinctly nutty than barley, though both share the same toasty, caffeine-free profile.
Genmaicha
Genmaicha delivers a similar toasted-grain warmth from roasted rice, but it is blended with green tea, so it carries vegetal notes and caffeine that barley tea does not.
Hojicha
Hojicha offers a comparable roasty character, but it is genuinely roasted green tea (Camellia sinensis) with low but real caffeine, not a caffeine-free grain infusion.
In Japan, chilled mugicha in a glass jug is practically the smell of summer, sold everywhere in bottles and brewed in nearly every household. In Korea, boricha (often combined with roasted corn) is so routine that it is frequently served in place of plain water at the table.