Horchata
Refreshing homemade horchata made with rice, cinnamon, and vanilla. This authentic Mexican drink is easy to make and perfect for any occasion!
Servings: 6 cups
Equipment
- blender
- fine mesh strainer
- cheese cloth
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked jasmine rice
- 2 cinnamon sticks or 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 cups hot water
- 14 oz condensed milk
- 12 oz evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup sugar optional
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract optional
- 3 cups cold water
- ice
Instructions
- Blend one cup of jasmine rice until it is pulverized. If you are soaking your rice over night, you can skip this step.
- Add 4 cups of hot water and two cinnamon sticks. Give it a good shake/stir, then let it sit for 1-2 hours or until the water is cool enough to touch.
- Blend until smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Strain through a triple-layered cheese cloth AND a fine mesh strainer. This step is very important- you do not want a grainy horchata!
- Squeeze out all the liquid, then discard the remaining grains.
- Add the evaporated milk and condensed milk and stir well.
- Strain the horchata again. You may see a lot of grains settled at the bottom of the bowl while pouring it into the strainer- try not to add those bits. Taste the horchata- if it still has a grainy texture that leaves your tongue dry, strain again. I strongly dislike when horchata is grainy. Strain as many times as you need to!
- When you've strained enough, add the sugar. I like my horchata on the sweet side- if you don't like it that sweet, start with 1/4 cup of sugar. Optional: add 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract. I stopped adding vanilla extract to my horchata, I don't think it's necessary but you can add it if you want :)
- The horchata will be too thick at this point, so you'll need to add some water. For me, 3 cups of water is perfect. Just remember to keep your horchata slightly thicker than you want it, because it will water down a bit more once you serve it over ice.
- Refrigerate the horchata for up to 5 days. I recommend having it with lots of crushed ice :)
