Chef Thomas
A Proper Hot Toddy
A winter glass of whisky, honey, and lemon, stirred together in a warm mug and carried up to bed when the cough won't leave and the evening has asked you politely to stop.
Culinary Explorer
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Lemon Barley Water
Created by Chef Thomas
A jug of pearl barley simmered with lemon rind and a handful of sugar, strained and chilled until it tastes like a late June afternoon with the tennis on in the next room.
Beverages
British
Make Ahead
Picnic
Outdoor Dining
10 min
Active Time
40 min cook•PT50M plus chilling total
YieldAbout 1.2 litres, enough for a jug on a hot afternoon
There's a fortnight at the end of June when the garden goes slightly mad and the afternoons stretch out into something that feels longer than it is. The strawberries are in. The tennis is on somewhere in the background. The windows are open and the kitchen is too warm to cook anything ambitious. This is when a jug of lemon barley water earns its place in the fridge.
It's an old-fashioned drink, and I mean that as praise. Pearl barley, lemon rind, sugar, water. Simmered gently until the kitchen smells faintly of citrus and warm cereal, then strained, sweetened, sharpened with fresh juice, and chilled until the jug beads with cold. It isn't trying to be anything other than what it is: a quiet, slightly cloudy, properly refreshing thing to drink on a hot afternoon.
I make a jug most Saturdays through July. It lives in the fridge and I pour it into whichever glass is nearest whenever I come in from the garden with grass on my ankles. I wrote it down in the notebook years ago: barley, lemons, ice, shade. That was the whole entry. Some drinks don't need more detail than that.
The only real trick is the lemon rind. Pare it thinly, yellow only, no white pith, or the whole jug turns bitter and sulky. Everything else is just patience and a gentle simmer. We're only making a drink.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
pearl barley
Quantity
100g
cold water
Quantity
1.5 litres
plus extra for rinsing the barley
unwaxed lemons
Quantity
3
pared and juiced
golden caster sugar
Quantity
75g
or to taste
fine sea salt
Quantity
small pinch
ice and lemon slices (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| pearl barley | 100g |
| cold waterplus extra for rinsing the barley | 1.5 litres |
| unwaxed lemonspared and juiced | 3 |
| golden caster sugaror to taste | 75g |
| fine sea salt | small pinch |
| ice and lemon slices (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy-bottomed saucepan, around 2-litre capacity
- •Vegetable peeler
- •Fine-mesh sieve
- •1.5-litre glass jug with a lid or cover
Instructions
- 1
Rinse the barley
Tip the pearl barley into a sieve and rinse it under cold running water until the water runs clear. It'll look cloudy and slightly starchy at first, which is exactly what you're washing away. A minute of rinsing, a gentle shake, and you're done.
Skip this step and the finished drink turns gluey. It's a small bit of care that makes all the difference between something cloudy and heavy and something clean and bright. - 2
Pare the lemons
With a vegetable peeler, take the rind off the lemons in long strips. You want the yellow only, not the white pith underneath, which will turn the drink bitter. Work slowly. If you catch any pith, shave it off with a small knife. Keep the naked lemons for juicing later.
- 3
Simmer the barley
Put the rinsed barley into a heavy-bottomed saucepan with the 1.5 litres of cold water and the lemon rind. Bring it slowly up to the boil, then drop the heat right down so it barely murmurs. Let it simmer, half-covered, for about forty minutes. The kitchen will start to smell faintly of lemons and something warm and cereal, like a pantry on a summer morning. The barley should be soft and the liquid slightly cloudy, the colour of weak straw.
- 4
Sweeten while warm
Take the pan off the heat. Stir in the sugar and the pinch of salt while the liquid is still hot, so the sugar dissolves completely. Leave it to sit, lid on, for another twenty minutes or so. This is where the lemon rind really does its work, perfuming the barley water as it cools.
The salt isn't there to taste salty. It's there to sharpen the lemon and round off the sweetness. A pinch, no more. Trust it. - 5
Strain and add the juice
Set a fine sieve over a jug or bowl and pour the barley water through, pressing gently on the barley with the back of a spoon to get every last drop. Discard the spent barley and the rind. Squeeze the juice of the three lemons and stir it in. Taste it. If it's too sharp, add a touch more sugar. If it's too sweet, another squeeze of lemon. A recipe is a conversation, not a contract.
- 6
Chill and serve
Cover the jug and chill it for at least two hours, longer if you can manage. It needs to be properly cold, the kind of cold that fogs the outside of the glass. Serve over plenty of ice with a slice of lemon and, if you're feeling generous, a sprig of mint from the garden.
Chef Tips
- •Unwaxed lemons matter. You're steeping the rind in hot water, which means whatever is on the skin ends up in your glass. If all you can find is waxed, give them a good scrub under hot water first, but unwaxed is better.
- •Golden caster sugar gives a softer, slightly honeyed sweetness that suits the barley. White caster sugar works fine too. Don't use anything dark or muscovado here; the molasses flavour bullies the lemon.
- •The barley itself doesn't have to go to waste. Drain it well, let it cool, and it's lovely stirred through a summer salad with feta, cucumber, and herbs. Two meals out of one pan.
- •If you like it sharper, make it with four lemons instead of three. If you're serving it to children, five lemons and a touch more sugar. Your kitchen, your rules.
- •A sprig of mint or a few crushed coriander seeds added with the lemon rind takes it somewhere slightly different and not at all unwelcome. Worth trying once the novelty of the plain version has worn off.
Advance Preparation
- •Lemon barley water keeps in the fridge for up to four days in a covered jug or bottle. The flavour deepens on the second day as the lemon settles in.
- •If you're taking it on a picnic, decant it into a bottle straight from the fridge and wrap it in a damp tea towel to keep it cold. It travels well.
- •The pared lemon rind can be done an hour or two ahead and left on a plate covered with a damp cloth. Don't leave it longer or it'll dry out and lose its perfume.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 200g)
Calories
65 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
25 mg
Total Carbohydrates
15 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
13 g
Protein
1 g
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