Asia → Saudi Arabia → Hejaz
🥤 DRINK

Sobia (Hejazi Ramadan Barley Drink)

Barley and dry brown bread soaked in water for a day until lightly soured, then strained and sweetened with sugar, cardamom and cinnamon, the cold, off-white drink of Ramadan in Makkah and Jeddah.
Saudi (Hejazi) · easy · serves 6
prep 15 min · cook 0 min · plus 1 day hands-off time
~233 cal · 4g protein · 53g carbs · 1g fat · 4g fiber · 27g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
Glasses of cold, cloudy off-white sobia with a jug, beside dates
AI-generated illustration
Sobia is the drink of Ramadan in the Hejaz. Through the holy month it is sold on the streets of Makkah and Jeddah, poured into bags and bottles by vendors whose families have made it for generations, and it is on the table when the fast is broken.
It is believed to have reached the Hejaz centuries ago with the pilgrim caravans from Egypt, where a drink of the same name is made with coconut and milk. The Hejazi version is quite different: barley and dry bread, often brown bread, are left to soak in water for a day, then strained through cloth and sweetened, with and cinnamon. The classic colour is beige or off-white; red sobia and raisin sobia are later variations.
Because the soaked grain naturally at room temperature, sobia is tangy and faintly fizzy, and it does not keep: it is made a day or two ahead and drunk within two or three days.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.

Make it yours

✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.

Ingredients

Serves 6
  • 1 cup pearl barley, coarsely crushed
  • 4 slices dry brown bread, torn into pieces
  • 1.5 litres water
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 3/4 cup sugar, or to taste
  • 1 tsp ground
  • 1 tsp (optional)

Instructions

  • 1
    Crush the barley coarsely in a blender or with a pestle. Leave the bread out for a day beforehand if it is fresh, so it is properly dry, then tear it into small pieces.
  • 2
    Put the barley, bread and cinnamon sticks in a large bowl or jar, pour over the water and stir well.
  • 3
    Cover and leave at room temperature for 24 hours, stirring now and then. It will turn cloudy and smell faintly sour.
    ✎ Chef’s note
    This soak is where sobia gets its tang and its slight fizz. Do not stretch it past a day and a half: the longer it sits, the sourer and more alcoholic it becomes.
  • 4
    Strain through a sieve lined with cheesecloth, squeezing the cloth hard to get all the milky liquid out of the grain and bread.
  • 5
    Stir in the sugar, cardamom and rosewater until the sugar dissolves. Chill for at least 2 hours and serve very cold, stirred first, within two days.
Hejazi Ramadan tradition.

Ratings & reviews

Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.

🌏 While it simmers, know your destination

📍
Hejaz. Tamees, the region's everyday flatbread, is one of those arrivals, brought by Central and South Asian communities and traced by Saudipedia to the Makkah region. Torn and dipped into a bowl of ful, stewed fava beans, it is a Jeddah breakfast and a fixture of the Ramadan iftar table.
🗺️
Saudi Arabia. Saudi cuisine centers on kabsa, spiced rice with meat, and the Bedouin traditions of dates, camel, and coffee. Hospitality is sacred, and vast shared platters define feasts across the kingdom.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.

More from Saudi Arabia

KabsaSpiced rice cooked in aromatic broth with chicken, dried lime, and a whole-spice perfume, heaped high for sharing.
MasabibSoft, holey yeasted pancakes drenched in date syrup or honey, a Hejazi and Saudi breakfast.
MutabbaqA thin folded pastry stuffed with spiced minced meat and egg, griddled crisp, a favorite Saudi street snack.
Browse all Saudi Arabia recipes →

Good to know

You’ll need: Blender, Mortar and pestle.
Storing it: Best the day it is made. Wrap well and refresh in a warm oven, or freeze and reheat straight from frozen.

Make it a Saudi Arabia meal

JareeshDinner
AreekaDessert

Similar dishes from around the world

KvassRussia
Matlouh (Algerian Semolina Pan Bread)Algeria
Somun (Bosnian Flatbread)Bosnia & Herzegovina
Chikwangue (Kwanga, Congolese Fermented Cassava Loaf)Republic of the Congo
Rēwena Parāoa (Māori Potato Bread)New Zealand
Nishallo (Whipped Ramadan Sweet)Tajikistan
Drinks
Drinks of the World

Frequently asked questions

What is Sobia (Hejazi Ramadan Barley Drink)?

Barley and dry brown bread soaked in water for a day until lightly soured, then strained and sweetened with sugar, cardamom and cinnamon, the cold, off-white drink of Ramadan in Makkah and Jeddah.

Where does Sobia (Hejazi Ramadan Barley Drink) come from?

Sobia (Hejazi Ramadan Barley Drink) is a Saudi (Hejazi) dish from Hejaz, Saudi Arabia.

Can Sobia (Hejazi Ramadan Barley Drink) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?

This Sobia (Hejazi Ramadan Barley Drink) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.

Is Sobia (Hejazi Ramadan Barley Drink) safe for people with food allergies?

Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.

How long does Sobia (Hejazi Ramadan Barley Drink) take to make?

About 1 day in all: 15 minutes prep and 0 minutes cooking, plus 1 day of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 6.

Get the Sunday Spin

One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.