Mexican Horchata

Mexican Horchata is a refreshing and slightly sweetened rice milk drink. This version is delicately flavored with almond coconut milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. It is also dairy and gluten-free!

If bad things happen in sets of three, then I am due to fall into a drainage hole, get pushed into a swimming pool, or something to that effect any day now. 

The saga began over a week ago. It was a fine day with no rain in the forecast. I had to run out for a quick errand, and just as I left the house, it started to rain. A minute after I drove off, it poured and poured. The windshield wipers were going a mile a minute all the way to the store. Guess when the downpour stopped? Yep! when I got home. The 20 minutes I was out was the only 20 minutes it rained that day! Humph!!

Fast forward four days later. It was beautiful in the morning but turned overcast early afternoon. Since I like shade, it was perfect walking weather. It had been cloudy for an hour, so to be safe, I checked the weather on my handy dandy iPhone. The little pictograms showed clouds but no rain for the next 5 hours. The coast was clear, right?

Off for an hour’s walk, I went. Seven minutes later, I felt little raindrops. This won’t last, I thought. Thirty seconds later, the skies opened up. It lasted 2 minutes, then trickled down to a light rain. This will be a brief passing shower. It will end in a few minutes, I thought again. Just in case my calculations were incorrect, I decided to alter the route for a 30-minute walk. It continued to drizzle all the way home…and ended less than 5 minutes after I came in 🙁

I stayed in. Wasn’t up for a do-over. 

So, I’m waiting for the next shoe to drop or bucket of water to fall. If it does, I’ll be sure to capture it on my Instagram for your amusement ’cause I’m a giver like that (hee hee).

Oh! Happy belated Cinco de Mayo!! My bad as a food blogger for showing up late to the party, but better late than never!! I’m excited about this horchata and didn’t want to wait an entire year to share it with you. Besides, the holiday might have come and gone, but there is always Taco Tuesday!!

When I visit my siblings in Arizona, they always introduce me to something new of a gastronomic nature. During my previous trip, Sonoran hot dogs and fresh authentic Mexican tamales were my new loves. 

My latest trip to Arizona was all about the horchata. This drink is slightly sweet, aromatic, and SOOOO refreshing! This beverage is popular in Spain and throughout Latin America. The Mexican version that I tried was superb. While there are different variations and add-ins, Mexican horchata’s basic ingredients are rice, water, cinnamon, and sugar. Ground almonds are also commonly used.

Authentic Mexican horchata starts with rice milk made from scratch. It is delicious with just rice milk, but other types of milk can be added for additional flavor. So far, I have made horchata with almond coconut milk, and I have also made it with coconut milk (from the can). Both were equally delicious!!

Horchata is my new “it” drink of the spring/summer. I look forward to making lots of this thirst quencher in the upcoming months.

p.s. Try this with a splash of coconut rum. You’ll be glad you did!!

Recommended supplies:

(Affiliate links. The products I recommend are either what I use, are on my wish list, or come highly rated.)

• A good quality blender like this Vitamix does the best job of breaking down the grains of rice.
• Fine mesh strainer for straining the rice milk.
• Cheesecloth for straining the rice milk.

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Mexican Horchata

Author: Thao | In Good Flavor Cooking Method:Refrigerated Cuisine:Mexican Courses:Drinks Recipe Keys: V Vegetarian

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 20 minutesCook time: minutesRest time:3 hours Total time:3 hours 20 minutesServings:12 Servings

Description

Mexican Horchata is a refreshing and slightly sweetened rice milk drink. This version is delicately flavored with almond coconut milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. It is also dairy and gluten-free!

Ingredients

• 1 cup long grain rice
• 4 cups water
• 1 (1 1/2 stick if small)  cinnamon,  broken into large chunks
• 1 cup milk of choice (I like almond coconut milk)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar (to taste)
• Ground cinnamon or additional cinnamon sticks for garnish, optional

Instructions

To Make Rice Milk

1. Option 1) Place rice, cinnamon, and 2 cups water in a blender or food processor. Blend until rice is broken into coarse granules about the size of coffee grounds. Stir in the remaining water. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, but overnight is best. 
2. Option 2) Place rice and cinnamon pieces into a coffee grinder, a small blender, or a small food processor. Grind until rice becomes coarse granules, about the size of coffee grounds. Place the rice mixture into a large container. Stir in water. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, but overnight is best. The longer it sits, the more flavorful it becomes.
3. Next, drain the rice through a fine mesh strainer lined with 3 to 4 layers of cheesecloth. Remove some rice granules from the strainer if the liquid has a hard time draining. Discard solids. Place rice milk in a pitcher. Add milk of choice, vanilla, and sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Serve over ice. Garnish with a sprinkling of cinnamon and/or a cinnamon stick, optional.
4. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Note

• Use an appropriate size blender or food processor for pulverizing the rice. Too large of a container will only swoosh the rice around and will not break it up.

Keywords:Mexican, Horchata, Gluten Free, Milk Drink

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