Homemade Horchata

It's summer. It's hot...and I love carbs. Naturally this means it's horchata time. Horchata is a Hispanic rice-based agua fresca or milk-like beverage. I haven't made a good batch of horchata in a long time. By that I mean, I forgot how to make this drink years ago and just recently recreated it with great success! This recipe does require some prep time, but it's not intensive, and it's worth it.

Homemade Horchata

Prep Time: 10 hours/ overnight
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 10 hours

Serves 10

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup white rice (I used Basmati rice)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup white sugar or alternative sweetener
• 10-12 cups water

Instructions

1. Measure out the rice and place it in a bowl with 2 cups of water and allow it to soak overnight on the counter at least 6 hours. 
2.  Drain the rice and place it in a food processor or high-power blender. Blend until a thick paste forms. Gradually add 1/4 to 1/2 cup water to the mixture and continue to blend until all of the rice is finely ground. 
3. Add the cinnamon to the rice mixture and blend until incorporated. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and add another 2 cups of water to the rice-cinnamon mixture. Allow it to sit for 2-4 hours. 
4. Thin the mixture with 4 more cups of water and mix it all together. 
5. Strain the mixture into a pitcher through a very fine tea strainer or cheese cloth.*
6. Heat 4 cups of water and add the sugar, stirring until completely dissolved. 
7. Add the sugar water to the pitcher. Taste and add extra sugar water if you want it sweeter.
8. Pour over ice, sprinkle a dash of cinnamon on top, and enjoy!

 Notes
 
*If you use a tea strainer, I found it helpful to let the mixture sit for a while to allow the larger rice particles to settle to the bottom of the bowl. I strained the top liquid and reserved the bottom liquid containing the larger particles. I then strained the bottom liquid through the strainer into a separate bowl and repeated the process several times to remove as much of the large particles before adding it to the pitcher.