I know it's not really coffee, but I fell in love with "Caffe d'orzo" on a trip to Italy. I seems to be ground, roasted barley run through an espresso machine. The shots don't taste quite like espresso, but grassier, milder, and less oily than coffee (in a way that I sometimes crave). Can I make it--or something like it--conveniently without living on the Mediterranean? I think some expensive "pod" (N)espresso makers sell pods for it in Italy. If I could figure out the roasting myself, I might even invest in a countertop espresso maker, but I don't want to ruin expensive equipemnt.
Perhaps there's a safer way to experiment - ubrik, bialetti, etc? Anyone experimented with this?