Roasted barley tea substitutes

The commercial product is nothing more than roasted unhulled barley, so pearl barley or hulled barley from the grain aisle gets you almost exactly there.

Best for

hot and iced mugicha or boricha, cooking liquid for rice and broths, Italian style barley coffee, any recipe calling for barley tea

Dry pan over medium heat, stirring constantly for eight to twelve minutes, or a single layer on a tray at about 200 C for fifteen to twenty. Pull it at deep chestnut brown, when the kitchen smells like toasted bread. Black grains taste acrid and ashy and will ruin the pot. Hulled barley browns more evenly and tastes a touch earthier than pearl barley, which is slightly sweeter and cleaner. Once toasted it keeps in a jar for months, so make a big batch.

Sold as oksusu-cha in Korean shops, often blended with barley in the same bag. Roasted corn kernels steeped the same way.

Best for

iced summer drinking, everyday table tea, serving with grilled or spicy food, children, since it is caffeine free and mild

Rounder, distinctly sweeter and less bitter than barley, with an unmistakable popcorn note. Where barley tea has a dry, almost coffee-like finish, corn tea finishes sweet, which makes it more drinkable on its own and slightly less good as a foil for rich or spicy food. The color is a lighter gold rather than deep amber. Still not gluten free if the bag is a barley and corn blend, so read the label if that matters.

Sold as hyeonmi-cha in Korea, and it is the same toasted rice that goes into genmaicha, brewed without the green tea. Naturally gluten free.

Best for

gluten-free barley tea, hot tea with rice-based meals, a lighter everyday brew, cold brew

Lighter in color and body, popcorn-sweet, with much less of the dry bitterness that gives barley tea its backbone. Alongside a fatty grilled dish, barley tea cuts and brown rice tea does not, so it reads more as a gentle hot drink than as a palate cleanser. It is the easiest swap to find in a Western supermarket if you can buy genmaicha, though that brings green tea and caffeine with it.

Sobacha in Japan, memil-cha in Korea. Toasted buckwheat groats, which despite the name are not wheat and contain no gluten.

Best for

gluten-free and coeliac-safe barley tea, hot drinking, a nuttier, more savory cup, using the spent grains, which are pleasant to eat

The closest of the gluten-free options to barley tea's savory character: nutty, earthy and a little more assertive, with a faint honeyed edge. It brews a similar amber color. Steep rather than boil hard, since long boiling turns buckwheat slightly slimy. Worth knowing that buckwheat is itself an allergen for some people, so it is not a universal safe swap.

The right swap when barley tea is standing in for coffee, as caffe d'orzo does in Italy. Roasted root rather than roasted grain, brewed strong and dark.

Best for

caffeine-free coffee replacement, barley coffee in a moka pot or espresso machine, a dark, bitter after-dinner cup, iced coffee style drinks

Considerably more bitter and more coffee-like than barley, with a woody, slightly molasses edge, so it is closer to the point when you want something that reads as coffee and further from the point when you want a light table drink. Use less than the barley quantity or the cup turns harsh. Chicory is also often blended with roasted barley in commercial coffee substitutes, which is worth checking on the label.

The honest answer when barley tea is doing the job it does in most Korean and Japanese homes, which is being the everyday drinking water on the table.

Best for

drinking with a meal, anywhere barley tea is served as water, recipes where it is only the liquid

You lose the toasty aroma and the very slight bitterness that makes barley tea good with rich food, and you lose nothing else, because barley tea contributes no acid, no fat and negligible sugar. If you want a hint of the toasted note without buying anything, drop a single tablespoon of plain uncooked rice or barley into the pan, toast it for two minutes, and steep it in a mug of hot water for five. That is a fair approximation of one cup.