While Joel and I were celebrating our anniversary, I had a cup of Genmai Cha. Genmai tea is a combination of green tea and roasted brown rice. Delicious.

I stopped at a local health food store looking for some Genmai. No luck. But I did find a box of Dark Roast Yerba Mate. This tea includes “A Rich Blend of Green and Roasted Yerba Mate, Roasted Barley, Carob, and Chicory Root.” It was too pricey for me, so I bought a few ounces of yerba mate, chicory and barley out of the bulk bins.

Of course this got me to wondering about roasting barley. My Zach and Dani’s coffee roaster didn’t work out so well. The barley was too small for it. A cookie sheet and the oven worked better.

After roasting the barley I mixed it with the yerba mate and chicory then brewed the concoction in a regular drip coffee maker. Good stuff hot or cold.

I tried brewing straight barley in my mokka coffee maker… this batch of barley wasn’t dark enough and the seal wasn’t tight on the coffee maker… the steam seeped out the sides. I only got a table spoon of barley tea and a moist barley hockey puck… which was tasty.

Hmm… google google google… more research about roasted grains and hot beverages. What’s this? Postum? An “instant hot beverage” made out of Wheat and Molasses.

Maybe Sarah would like it. She loves coffee and I have a hard time keeping her from stealing mine. An 100% caffeine free alternative would be great for her.

I bought a jar at Wal-Mart and offered Sarah a sip this morning. She didn’t see me make it, she thought it was regular coffee. But when she tasted the Postum she said, “It tastes like yucky bread.”

Fine. My three year old daughter has joined ranks with “Mister Coffee Nerves.” [Which I won't link to since the commentary might offend some of you... google if you must.]

Excuse me while I go brew up a nice french press of roasted barley. Keep in mind that I have no idea what I’m doing…

Update: The Roasted Barley tea was good. But I didn’t like it any better than your average tea bag. I think I’ll stick to roasting coffee. Besides, all this talk of 100% Caffeine Free is making me drowsy.

(Genmai Cha) Brown Rice Green Tea