The making of Pakistan’s favourite summer drink
Barley drinks are common in this part of the world to combat fatigue and dehydration in the summer, even stretching back to olden days, when farmers would crush barley with sugar to make a healthy and replenishing drink.
Now, however, many companies produce such drinks and they are easily available in the market. One of the oldest such companies is Murree Brewery, which has produced barley malt for the last century.
Murree Brewery was opened in Ghora Gali by the British in 1860, and its Rawalpindi production unit was established in 1886. The brewery opened to meet the beer requirements of British personnel, but after partition in 1947 it also started producing food and non-alcoholic beverages under the name Tops.
The brewery produces three types of non-alcoholic barley malt. It imports the barley from Australia, after which three separate units are involved to manufacture the beverage itself.