Sticking things into hot water for a while and drinking the result is an age old and universal custom.

Some people do it for their health, others do it for pleasure. I'm in the second camp!

So which ones are nice to drink and recommended?


I've become a recent convert to Mugi-cha, a Japanese tisane made from roasted barley (and sometimes a little rye). It's naturally caffeine free.

I didn't like it at first - it's kind of remniscent of the kind of drink you'd get if you used the water for cleaning out a coffee encrusted vessel. But that prejeudice aside, the result is actually rather pleasant. Drank cold, it has a rich, smooth flavour (it's quite nutritious) and a clean, barely discernable after taste. I personally find it much easier to drink than water, especially in large quantities (it's a suggested drink for flushing out kidney impurities - the Japanese say it thins your blood).

You can make it hot, but I've gotten into the cold version. Take a mugicha tea bag (I'm using the kind at the top of this page from 'House' as it's easily available from Japanese grocery stores in the UK) and just pop it into a quart/litre of cold water. Put it in the fridge for a while and it's ready 15 minutes or so later. You can leave the tea bag in the jug/bottle for a day or so if you want, it doesn't really 'over brew' (just add a little more water if you think it's too strong)

In Korea it's called 'bori cha', in Spain it's called 'agua de cebada' and there it is drank cold (commonly like a slushy) with plenty of sugar and often with a little cinammon and lemon rind.

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Another of my favourite tisanes is a simple infusion of mint leaves (together with some sugar) drank hot.


I also like to drink a hot 'tea' made with bitter gourd occasionally. But I know very little about this drink.


Any other favourites?