Barley water, usually flavoured with lemon or other fruit, is a traditional British soft drink. It is 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 grain in water, strained or not, is an ancient practice. Kykeon (Gr. κυκεών, from κυκάω, "to stir, to mix") was an Ancient Greek drink made mainly of water, barley and naturally occurring substances. It was used at the climax of the Eleusinian Mysteries to break a sacred fast, but it was also a favourite drink of Greek peasants.
A Scottish example is atholl brose which is made with oats. In Mexico drinks called aguas frescas are made by street vendors using similar methods. Roasted barley tea is a popular traditional Asian equivalent.
Barley water has been used as a first baby food, before feeding with barley mush. It is also used as a home remedy for cystitis.[1]
Barley Water has a long association with Wimbledon, being still the official drink supplied to players on the court.[2]
In Britain, Robinsons Lemon Barley Water, now a Britvic brand, is sold in bottles of 750ml of concentrate, which is usually diluted with three to five parts cold water. It was originally sold in glass bottles but this was changed to plastic bottles a few years ago. Orange Barley Water is also available.
The Labour politician Josiah Wedgwood is said to have staged a filibuster in Parliament, sustaining himself with barley water and chocolate, in 1913.[3]
In the film Mary Poppins, the children want their "perfect nanny" to never smell of barley water.[4]
In the Tortall books of Tamora Pierce, the female knights ask for barley water or twilsey (fruit vinegar in water] in bars instead of alcoholic drinks.