Barley coffee: what is it?

Barley coffee, have you heard of it? If you are considering limiting your coffee consumption and are looking for alternatives to it, you may have heard of this rather unusual coffee: barley coffee. Made in France, this drink intrigues you. What are its benefits? What is its taste and the little boost that coffee gives you?

Table of contents

What is barley coffee?

What are the origins of barley coffee?

What does barley coffee taste like?

What are the benefits of barley coffee?

Why drink barley coffee instead of regular coffee?

Barley coffee is made from roasted and then crushed barley grains, which are enjoyed as an infusion.

Barley, an ancestral and French cereal

Barley is one of the first cereals that was domesticated by our ancestors. They adopted it to feed livestock and to make beer: even today, barley is used mainly for these purposes (55% of the barley produced in the world is used for animal feed and 40% is used for brewing).

France is now the second largest producer of barley in the world, behind Russia. And that's very cool because it means that your barley coffee can be 100% made in France!

While barley coffee is still a very confidential drink in France, where it is little known, it is widely consumed in Italy (it is called “caffè d'orzo” in Italian), in South Korea (“boricha” “보리차”), in China (“dàmàichá”, “大麦茶”) and in Japan (“mugicha”, “麦茶”). Although its consumption is very old, its expansion really started during the Second World War, when the importation of products such as coffee was difficult.

Charlotte, founder of Maison Aimi, discovered barley coffee in its Japanese version, Mugicha, during her trip to Japan. Passionate about the culture of this country and in particular its relationship to well-being, she saw in mugicha the crossroads of her values: pleasant, thirst-quenching, caffeine-free, theine-free, sugar-free, rich in benefits and can be made 100% in France.

The taste of barley coffee depends largely on its preparation. Barley coffee has the particularity of being able to be consumed hot or cold (and better, of being able to be a cold brewed drink).

Hot, it is very similar to coffee if it is very infused. The roasting of the barley gives the barley coffee notes of hazelnut, caramel, toast… All surrounded by a slight bitterness.

The latter is less important when consuming cold barley coffee. However, it retains this taste of roasted cereals which makes it seem like coffee.

The first particularity of barley coffee is that it contains neither caffeine nor theine.

It will not provide the boost of coffee that we sometimes seek in the morning, but can be consumed throughout the day without risk. Pregnant people and children can drink it.

Barley coffee has other interesting properties, it:

• promotes digestion
• helps regulate blood sugar levels
• does not prevent iron assimilation
• anti-inflammatory
• detoxifying
• contains phosphorus, magnesium, vitamins E and B, potassium

Don’t hesitate to take a look at our article dedicated entirely to the benefits of barley coffee .

Although it is a comforting and boosting drink for many of us, coffee is far from being a perfect drink. Coffee has several limitations:

• Caffeine can be addictive;
• Caffeine can be dangerous: in large quantities, it can cause palpitations or problems falling asleep and staying asleep;
• Coffee is not an ecological drink: in addition to not being local, coffee can contain many pesticides and cause illness for the people who farm it;
• Coffee is a drink that we sometimes consume only for the boost it provides. Producing more and more is not a very healthy way to live!
• Coffee is not a very digestible drink: acidic, it can cause heartburn, especially when consumed on an empty stomach.

Reducing your coffee consumption to a pleasure consumption or limited to one cup in the morning can be interesting. To replace it, there are several alternatives and barley coffee is one of them!

What are the differences between coffee, matcha, tea and barley coffee?

What are the differences between classic coffee, matcha, tea and barley coffee? Here they are summarized in a few lines!

Since barley coffee contains neither caffeine nor theine, it can be consumed at any time of the day.

Moreover, the fact that it can be consumed cold makes it interesting to consume all year round, in summer as well as in winter. For the summer, you will appreciate knowing that it has the advantage of being able to be infused cold: it is not necessary to infuse it hot to cool it, which represents a significant time saving. We will tell you more about it just after in our preparation tips!

How to prepare barley coffee?

Barley coffee has the particularity of being able to be prepared like tea or like coffee. Here are two possible preparations and we have presented you on our site other recipes for cooking barley coffee and barley powder .

Japanese preparation: mugicha

In Japan, mugicha is consumed as a fairly mild infusion, hot or cold.

For a gentle hot infusion, put 1 heaped teaspoon in the reusable fabric tea bag and let it steep for about 2 minutes before removing the bag. As with green tea or black tea, the longer you let it steep, the more bitter your drink will be: it's up to you to adjust the steeping time according to your taste.

For a mild cold infusion: fill a reusable cloth tea bag with 2 teaspoons of mugicha, infuse it in a glass with cold or room temperature water (according to your taste). Let it infuse for about 5 minutes for a rather light infusion. Allow more time to gain intensity.

Italian preparation: barley coffee / caffé de orzo

If you prefer a stronger infusion, close to coffee, you can use your French press (also called a French coffee maker) or your Italian coffee maker. To do this, you will need to use a coffee grinder to reduce the barley grains to a grind suitable for your coffee maker. The preparation is then the same as with coffee!

Maison Aimi offers you high quality barley coffee:

• 100% organic barley
• Roasting and crushing in France

The packaging has been designed to keep the barley coffee away from light and humidity while respecting the environment. The coffee is contained in an aluminum box made in France and you have the possibility of then acquiring refills in recyclable bags.

Maison Aimi products can be purchased online or in store (find all our points of sale in France on the eponymous page).

Still little known in France, barley coffee is a drink with immense potential that is widely consumed abroad (orzo coffee in Italy, mugicha in Japan). Its reassuring taste, its absence of caffeine and its French manufacturing make it an excellent alternative to classic coffee.

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