Barley water

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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 hot over 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.

In Britain, Robinsons Lemon Barley Water, now a Britvic brand, is popular with parents and children alike. It is sold in bottles of one litre of concentrate, which is usually diluted with three to five parts cold water. It may also be drunk hot, which tends to affect tooth enamel temporarily, giving an odd feeling that the teeth have become a little soft, though there is no permanent change.

Lemon Barley Water has a long association with Wimbledon, being still the official drink supplied to players on the court, though it faces competition from drinks such as Gatorade.

The politician Josiah Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood is said to have staged a filibuster in Parliament, sustaining himself with barley water and chocolate, in 1913.

The drink was also mentioned in the song "The Perfect Nanny" written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman in 1967. It was sung by the children in the Walt Disney movie Mary Poppins.