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Glass rimmed with cinnamon and filled with cold and creamy homemade horchata, served with cinnamon sticks.
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5 from 2 votes

Horchata

Horchata. This creamy, Agua de horchata is cold and refreshing. This cold and creamy authentic Mexican drink recipe is the perfect way to cool down on a hot day. This drink also pairs with all your favorite Mexican or Tex Mex meals!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time0 minutes
Chilling Time8 hours
Total Time8 hours 5 minutes
Course: drink
Cuisine: Mexican
Servings: 4
Author: Serene

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 cup long grain white rice uncooked
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 4 cups cold water filtered
  • cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cup whole milk or milk of preference

Instructions

  • Rinse the rice: place rice in a fine mesh strainer and rinse under water, until the water runs clear.
  • Blend: Add rice, cinnamon sticks and 2 cups of water to a blender. Blend until rice and cinnamon are broken down.
  • Add the remaining 2 cups of water and blend.
  • Pour this mixture into a pitcher. Make sure to scrape all the rice bits from the bottom of the blender.
  • Chill: Store in the refrigerator overnight.
  • Strain: After soaking overnight, pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into another large pitcher.
  • Rinse the original pitcher and clean. Then pour the rice drink back through the fine mesh strainer back into the pitcher. This way the drink is being strained twice.
  • Sweeten: Stir in milk, vanilla extract, and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Stir together with a whisk. Taste and sweeten more to taste if desired. 

Video

Notes

  • Long grain white rice- can be substituted for another white rice of choice.
  • Cinnamon sticks- gives more flavor than ground cinnamon.
  • Vanilla- Madagascar vanilla has a rich, creamy flavor. Mexican vanilla will be dark and smokey. Both of those are great options in this drink.
  • Sugar- white granulated sugar to sweeten the drink. Add more, up to 1 cup if you desire a sweeter drink.  Can be substituted for another sweetener of your choice. Options to sweeten include: honey, maple syrup, agave, or even blended medjool dates. 
  • Milk- whole milk  gives a creamier horchata drink. Other options would include almond milk or coconut milk. Again, any changes will change the flavor of the finished horchata drink. If you are using sweetened condensed milk then cut out the sweetener or the drink will be way too sweet.
  • Almonds (optional!) some recipes call for almonds, they do give a strong almond flavor to the drink, you can sub out 1/3 cup of rice for 1/3 cup of almonds. For best results blanch the almonds and remove the skin. Bring a small pot of water to a boil, add the raw almonds to the boiling water, boil for just about one minute, not longer, pour into a strainer, then rinse the almonds with cold water. The skins will easily fall off with your fingers.
  • Make a large batch: Keep the ratios the same. You will need a large container to hold everything and you will need to work in batches when blending.
  • Storage: This drink will keep in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. You might need to give it a stir before serving due to settling.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 340kcal | Carbohydrates: 71g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 30mg | Potassium: 151mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 99IU | Calcium: 104mg | Iron: 1mg