"nannies must never smell of barley water"

So I just found an article on The Kitchn (one of my favorite blogs out there!) about lemon barley water - the official drink of Wimbledon - and it just struck me fancy. Doesn't it sound just refreshing? I mean, barley tea (mugicha) is already one of the :most: popular summer drinks in Japan, so why not oomph it up a bit with a splash of lemon and a touch of sugar?

Anyhow, I made a batch by throwing in 2 bags of the Maeda-en Mugicha into 1 quart-sized pitcher, filled to the brim with water. I let that steep for, oh, about an hour, and into this dark brown tea, I squeezed in a whole lemon's worth of juice and 2-3 tbsp of honey. Then I corraled the sales team into The LAB and appointed them as taste testers. (The poor guys, they were also the taste testers during my cupping training.)

The verdict?

Well, the boys didn't like it (you should have seen the scowl on their faces), but I did.
It's definitely different. This mesquite drink is actually quite delicious - I can totally imagine myself sipping on this on the poolside (a splash of rum would be nice too - I'm thinking Oronoco!). If you're the type to enjoy Mo's Bacon Bar from Vosges (like me), or the bacon chocolate crunch bar from Animal, then it's for you.





Till next time!