Barley Water, Part 2

The other day, I went to my supermarket and bought a bottle of "barley water". I bought the traditional lemon flavor, though an orange-flavored variety was also present. I've included a photograph of the bottle which shows the label, in case any of my readers is curious about the brand; my husband said that this brand of barley water is as about as British as they come.

Then I learned, to my surprise, that the stuff in the bottle is a concentrate, and has to be cut with water (at least 4 parts water to one of the concentrate, said my husband) in order to get a drinkable beverage. He gave me a sip after mixing one up for himself.

It wasn't carbonated.  It tasted a lot like lemonade, only much less sweet.

I think I like it. And since it's so low in calories and carbohydrates made up, it shouldn't give me blood sugar problems (I'm an insulin-dependent diabetic). I've just mixed up more for myself, according to the directions on the bottle (they suggest about 3 tablespoons of concentrate for every 8 ounces of water) and am finding the results very pleasant. 

Now I wish I could ask my aunt what the barley water she drank as a girl back in the Old Country was like; unfortunately, she's been dead for more than a decade.

Barley Water (Part 1)

All of my grandparents and some of my aunts and uncles were born in Eastern Europe, and one of my aunts used to tell me that barley water was a typical drink when she was a girl. (That would have been in the first decade of the 20th century).

My husband, who was living with his family in London in the 1960s, reports that they had barley water there, too. It was bottled and carbonated like a soda, and typically lemon-flavored. A quick follow-up with Wikipedia uncovered the following:

Barley water, usually flavoured with lemon or other fruit, is a popular British soft drink. It can be made by boiling washed pearl barley, straining, then pouring the hot water over the rind and/or pulp of the fruit, and adding fruit juice and sugar to taste. The rind may also be boiled with the barley.

Drinking boiled barley in water, strained or not, is an ancient practice. Barley water has been used as a first baby food, before feeding with barley mush. It is also used to treat cystitis. In Mexico drinks called aguas frescas are made by street vendors using similar methods. Roasted barley tea is a popular traditional Asian equivalent.

One of our local supermarkets carries the British-style lemon-soda-like barley water. Although that's not going to taste much like anything the Vikings or Anglo-Saxons might have drunk, it is the end of a long tradition that may well have involved the Vikings (who certainly used barley). I'm also curious as to how British barley water differs in taste from typical American lemon sodas.