Traditional Korean Tea

My wife and I have tried a lot of different teas over the years. One of our favourites is a traditional Korean tea called bori-cha.

Bori-cha is made with roasted whole grain barley and is super simple to make. If you have a Korean market in your area, you can buy a package of roasted, unhulled barley. If you only have access to unroasted, whole grain barley, all you have to do is put the barley in a large pan and toast it over moderate heat for about 5 minutes until the grains have turned to a dark coffee colour. Be sure to shake the pan once in a while while roasting. It is best to put the roasted barley to the side to cool before making tea. Please be sure that you use unhulled whole grain barley. Unhulled barley will remain hard when boiled, much like seeds do. Hulled barley will cook like oatmeal and won't make bori-cha.

To make bori-cha, put 2 tablespoons of roasted barley into 5 cups of water, bring to a boil, then allow to simmer for 15 minutes with the lid on the pot. Strain the tea so that the barley grains don't get into your mug. You can enjoy bori-cha hot or cold. It keeps for several days in the refrigerator.