Premium Roasted Barley Tea (Loose) - 2lbs by Assi

I had to make this review in response to all of the 1-star reviews panicking about acrylamide in the product. Acrylamide is a byproduct of the Maillard Reaction (i.e. cooking and browning carbohydrates). Literally any cooked or roasted food you eat has acrylamide in it, including but not limited to: coffee, potato chips, french fries, toasted bread, etc. You're consuming acrylamide every time you eat these browned foods. Not only does roasted barley have less than 1/3 the acrylamide of potato chips by dry weight, scientific studies have proved that there were "non-detectable amounts of acrylamide" in several brands of roasted barley tea that were tested; meaning that hot water emulsion was insufficient to extract the specific compound. As long as you're not eating the whole grains, you're consuming no acrylamide. And even if you did swallow the grains, it's still less acrylamide than you would get from eating popcorn or roasted potatoes. Now that is settled, let's go in for the product review. The barley grains were beautifully and evenly roasted. No burnt pieces, loose chaff, or debris on the bottom of the bag. I tried grinding them up with a mortar and pestle but they're still a bit hard, so I decided to just brew them whole. The taste was great, but very watered down. I had to buy a cheap spice grinder and that worked fantastically to break up the grounds and get a stronger brew. You can smell it! That rich, nutty, and slightly sweet aroma as the tea for darker. I steeped it in near-boiling water for about 5 minutes and got a nice medium-brown color. It tastes amazing! It definitely feels like it has some light coffee notes, but with none of the caffeine content. I'm going to try and substitute this for coffee and tea in the mornings. One sec! I'm going to go brew myself another cup!

Love this tea. I brew mine with carob and molasses for a coffee substitute. What about the state of California having a cow about acrylamide and enforcing a warning on the package? It's bogus, not an issue with barley tea. (As a Californian, I apologize for my state.) Acrylamide doesn't exist in the tea. Read the research for yourself: in the journal Food Chemistry (via Science Direct), "Effects of roasting and steeping on nutrients and physiochemical compounds in organically grown naked barley teas." Authors Martinez-Subria, Meints, Tomasino, Hayes. June 2024. Quote: "Barley tea is a low calorie, low carbohydrate beverage with no detectable levels of acrylamide."

There were pictures from other customers where origin was from China, but all the bags I’ve bought so far (currently 3) all clearly state in the back of the bag that it is a product of Korea. I brew this tea everyday and it is delicious. Super easy to prepare, I put some into my stockpot, add some water, boil, let it cool and then I put it in my fridge to have refreshing barley tea any time I want. You can prolly get this for a lot cheaper at a local Korean market, but the time and cost for me to go there and makes ordering it via Amazon the smarter choice. Great size and will last you for awhile. This has no caffeine in it, so I also like to brew a batch for my nieces.

After traveling to South Korea, I've been craving this tea--it's exactly the same! For some reason it's hard to find in asian grocery stores, so I'm really glad it's available on here. The tea is so fragrant and has a slight creaminess. Perfect for hot and cold drinks depending on the season!

Makes a tasty tea. You can get this much more cheaply in an Asian grocery. Even cheaper is buying plain pearl barley and toasting your own.

I recently found out about this tea at a Korean restaurant. Decided to get it so I could have more at home. It is very easy to make, the aroma and the taste are great! I can tell that this is not a premium tea, however i find it to have great value for the money.

This is a main staple. It's great cold or hot

I love barley tea, and this is my go-to brand because the quality never disappoints. It has a lovely nutty flavor and smells amazing. I really enjoy having a cup when I get home from work—it’s the perfect way to relax and wind down