Barley Tea Bliss: Explore Pairing Possibilities

Barley tea is usually best enjoyed on its own, but some people like to mix it with other ingredients, such as chrysanthemum. So, can barley tea be brewed with chrysanthemum? It can be brewed together, but the taste may not be very good. If you can accept the taste, it’s perfectly fine. What goes well with barley tea? It can be paired with cassia seeds, monk fruit, or genmaicha, but it should not be mixed with traditional teas: black, yellow, green, dark, oolong, or white tea.

1. Can barley tea be brewed with chrysanthemum?

Barley tea can be brewed with chrysanthemum, which can help with digestion, bowel movement, liver detoxification, and eyeight improvement.

Barley tea is sweet and salty, and cool in nature. It affects the spleen and stomach meridians. It helps with digestion, bowel movement, and has diuretic properties. It can treat food stagnation, diarrhea, painful urination, edema, and burns.

Chrysanthemum has a slightly spicy, sweet, and bitter taste, and is slightly cold in nature. It can disperse wind-heat, clear the liver and improve eyesight, pacify liver yang, and detoxify.

It is used for colds, fever, headache, liver heat, red and teary eyes, or liver and kidney yin deficiency, blurry vision, liver yang hyperactivity, dizziness, headache, and painful sores. Modern medicine also uses it for coronary heart disease and hypertension.

However, barley tea has a robust taste that doesn’t quite match the delicate aroma of chrysanthemum, resulting in an odd flavor. It is best not to consume it this way.

2. What goes well with barley tea?

1. Barley tea + Cassia seeds

Barley tea is sweet and neutral in nature, while cassia seeds are sweet, bitter, cool, and slightly salty. Both can be mixed together.

Place barley tea and cassia seeds into boiling water, let steep for 10 minutes, and it’s ready to drink. Consuming both has the benefits of liver pressure reduction, spleen and stomach health, improved eyesight, and bowel movement.

2. Barley tea + Genmaicha

Barley tea and genmaicha have similarities, but genmaicha is made by blending roasted wheat with steamed green tea, so it has both the caramel aroma of roasted grains and the special freshness of green tea.

Consuming both together can alleviate stress, relax the mind, promote blood circulation, and metabolism.

3. Barley tea + Monk fruit

Place barley tea and monk fruit into boiling water, let steep for about 10 minutes, and it’s ready to drink. Barley tea aids digestion and reduces bloating, while monk fruit can moisten the lungs and relieve cough, benefiting the throat.

Brewing both together can moisten the lungs, relieve coughs, regulate Qi, and reduce bloating. It’s especially suitable for those with Yin deficiency, throat discomfort due to excessive heat, to consume after meals.

3. What should not be mixed with barley tea?

Barley tea should not be paired with traditional teas (black, yellow, green, dark, oolong, and white tea). Moreover, barley tea is best consumed on its own and one should avoid excessive consumption.

It is also not recommended to arbitrarily mix or brew it with other types of herbal teas. When consuming, choose based on your personal circumstances and drink scientifically.