by James Smith

Many hours have been spent in search of refreshment in the form of drafts and liquid libations. I myself joined this quest several decades ago and have logged in more than my fair share. I would like to share with you a simple concoction I discovered in my youth and still enjoy today.

My discovery was made almost fifteen years ago in Southern California. My wife and I have always enjoyed experiencing different cuisine from around the world, and I enjoy the added benefit of sampling different brews. I was able to try numerous West Coast microbreweries and all of the import beers I could lay hands on. Close proximity to Mexico gave me the opportunity to try a multitude of brews from south of the border long before they were imported into the United States. During this time my wife and I became close friends with a coworker of Japanese descent who also owned and operated a Japanese restaurant. Through him we became acquainted with the culture, cuisine and the wondrous brewing handicraft from the island of Nippon.

My wife and I became so enamored with the Japanese way of life we began seeking out other ways to experience the wonders of Japan. We became frequent visitors to the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles to shop the many gift stores and markets. We found we were able to purchase ingredients to make many of the dishes we had come to love as well as the myriad beers, sakes and wines Japan had to offer. But our yearning to know more about the Japanese could not be satiated.

We found our local community center was seeking families to host exchange students from Japan. We began to have young Japanese men and women live in our home for one to two months at a time. We shared our American culture and way of life with them and in return we gained more insight into the Japanese lifestyle.

It was a custom for the students to bring with them gifts for each member of their host family. Our frist student was a young man from Tokyo whose mother owned a tea shop. His gift to me was a sample of several different teas he had chosen from his mother's selection. The green teas and brown rice teas, which I was already familiar with, had slightly different characters from the types I had tried at local restaurants. All were excellent. There was one packet I was not familiar with though and as all the lettering on the packet was in Japanese, I could not read the name. The young man told me it was a tea the Japanese customarily brew for summer refreshment, it was called Mugicha (pronounced Moo'-gee-cha).


With anticipation I opened one of the foil packets and found several oversized tea bags and an aroma I had not experienced before. It was similar to roasted coffee but not quite as strong. I quickly placed one of the tea bags in my tea pot and turned on the kettle. The young man's face took on a horrified expression and he started shaking his head. His expression turned to amusement as he removed the tea bag from the tea pot and turned off the kettle. He asked if I could provide a one-liter container. I found a quart jar in the cabinet, which he took, dropped the tea bag inside and filled with water from the kitchen tap. He then placed the jar in the refrigerator and indicated that we needed to wait a while. The next morning I remembered the jar and went to the fridge to check on it. What I found was a liquid that was dark brown in color. It was not quite as dark as black coffee but much darker than iced tea. It had a very delicate aroma. I poured some into a glass and sipped. The flavor was vaguely similar to iced coffee and nothing like iced tea. It was very refreshing with no after taste or bitterness. I poured myself several glasses and savored this new flavor. I was never fond of soft drinks or iced tea so during the summer I usually quenched my thirst with water or beer. I had found a cool refreshing drink for those warm summer days.

At the first opportunity I questioned the young man concerning the make up of this remarkable drink. After much deliberation over his Japanese/English dictionary, he told me it was made from barley. I surmised the barley must be roasted from the aroma. Later I found this to be correct. On my next trip to the Japanese market I searched the shelves for Mugicha and laid in a hardy supply for the summer. It became a summer staple in my household.