Barley Water; My Version

I've been reading up on the health benefits of barley water which are many and I will list some of those at end of blog.  In Europe it is very common and comes with lots of different fruity and spicy flavors and even as a soda.  My interest was further piqued by D&C section 89 (Word of Wisdom section)  verse 17 ...."barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain.".  Which started me thinking about mild drinks.   I've always understood that phrase to mean slightly fermented drinks and knowing that some fermented drinks like the kombucha I  make and my raw milk kefir are super foods for me,  I wondered if a mild barley drink  slightly fermented would also be good.  Thus began my experimenting.

  I looked at all the recipes for barley water online  and there's not much to it, just boil some barley, strain it out and throw out the barley or eat it, cool down the water, sweeten it or flavor it and drink.   I noticed that the recipes called for pearled barley which is the most common in stores which is barley without hulls.  I wanted to experiment with hulled barley and the only place I could find that was the bulk section of my local health food store.  I figured that with the hulls still on, there might be more minerals and the barley might sprout.   Sprouting barley was the first stage of beer making in the Old World, and the  water barley sprouted in was known as 'worts' in the beer making industry.  The beer makers would drink this 'worts' when they felt themselves coming down sick with something and take it home to their families to ward off illness.  Apparently it worked well enough that it was a common practice among beer makers as a remedy to stay well.
What I wanted to do was create a 'worts' water first by allowing the grain to sprout in water ( but not cook this water), then boil the sprouted barley in new water  to get the copper and other minerals out of it that are so beneficial and finally combine the two waters for my drink.

My recipe:
1 ounce (2 TBS) hulled barley  (not pearled, but with hulls)
1 quart chlorine-free water
Combine, cover with paper or cloth and let sit room temp for 3-4 days.   Watch for bubbles the 2nd or 3rd day....this is good it means that it is sprouting and coming alive.
After 3 even 4 days, strain off the water and reserve it with a lid in the fridge.
Add the sprouted barley to a pot and add another quart of water and bring to a boil then reduce heat and cook for 40 -45 minutes.   Allow to cool down and strain out the barley.  Eat it or throw it out.
The boiled water should be a pretty pink color, for all the copper that has been drawn out of the barley.  While water is still warm you can sweeten it with some honey,  like 1/4 or 1/3 cup.   When cooled, add to the reserved barley water in a 1/2 gallon container if you have one.  The taste with or without the honey is very mild and pleasant.  It satisfies thirst on hot days.   My husband enjoys this and so do I.

Health benefits for  Barley Water
1.  Highly beneficial bulk or insoluble fiber so great for intestines and food support for friendly bacteria.
2.  Barley is high in niacin, selenium, calcium and magnesium, phosphorus, copper (great for arthritis sufferers), zinc, all the B vitamins and potassium.
3  Barley and barley water is used to treat bowel problems, lower cholesterol, kidney stones,  asthma and lung disorders and arthritis.  

Note;   I have tried eating the sprouted barley and it still doesn't agree with my system.  It makes me gas up. Barley is an AVOID for me on the blood type food lists, and I thought it would change when sprouted, because some other AVOIDs do change, but this one still gives me trouble so I don't eat it.  My neighbors chickens like it.

Note 2: A reader asked me to clarify the difference between water that soaks a grain so it sprouts and fermentation.  After giving that some thought and research here's what I found;  there is a difference; fermentation is where you introduce a bacteria or fungus culture to a food and it consumes the sugars in the food and produces bio-enzymes and some alcohol.  Sometimes the bacteria or fungus is all ready on the food mostly lactobacillus, ( such as grapes, plums and cabbage) and when the juices are released, the bacteria go to work and fermentation is the result.  I did not introduce a bacteria or fungus to the barley water soak so technically I cannot call that first soak a "fermentation"  unless, the lactobacillus was on the barley with it's hulls.  But it doesn't taste fermented even after 4 day soak.  The benefit is that the sprouting process releases some bio-nutrition into the water during the process but I don't think fermentation is taking place I could be wrong...perhaps with a longer soak beyond 4 days fermentation could start, but I haven't let it go that long.   Perhaps another experiment.