麦茶
Coincidence is a funny thing. I've been wanting to make mugicha (roasted barley tea) for a while now, since it's one of the traditional tastes of a Japanese summer, along with things like cold soba noodles with dipping sauce, hiyayakko, and so on. But I've also been a bit too lazy to actually go out and buy some, so instead I've just been drinking chilled sencha for the most part. A few mornings, I've gone ahead and made fresh hot tea, but usually I've just made a nice pitcher of chilled tea the night before.
Then today at work, my team was a bit shorthanded, and therefore behind, as the result of vacations and unexpected illnesses, so we were getting some help from someone on our neighboring team who had some time to help. This person also happened to be an old friend of mine, so so much the better. Anyway, I found myself over at her desk in the afternoon answering questions about a couple of the research items she was working on for us, when I caught the unmistakable scent of roasted grain. And there on her desk was this HUGE (as in, restaurant-quantity-bulk-purchase-size) package of mugicha packets! I asked where she got them, and she said her brother gave them to her, but that she had way more than she could possibly use and to take as many as I wanted.
I only took a few, but needless to say I made a pitcherful as soon as I got home, and it was delicious.
Then today at work, my team was a bit shorthanded, and therefore behind, as the result of vacations and unexpected illnesses, so we were getting some help from someone on our neighboring team who had some time to help. This person also happened to be an old friend of mine, so so much the better. Anyway, I found myself over at her desk in the afternoon answering questions about a couple of the research items she was working on for us, when I caught the unmistakable scent of roasted grain. And there on her desk was this HUGE (as in, restaurant-quantity-bulk-purchase-size) package of mugicha packets! I asked where she got them, and she said her brother gave them to her, but that she had way more than she could possibly use and to take as many as I wanted.
I only took a few, but needless to say I made a pitcherful as soon as I got home, and it was delicious.