Traditional Mexican Horchata: Silky and Spiced

Ingredients

• 1 cup (200g) Long-grain white rice, uncooked
• 1/2 cup (70g) Blanched almonds, unsalted
• 2 sticks (6g) Real Mexican Canela (Ceylon cinnamon)
• 4 cups (950ml) Filtered water, for soaking
• 2 cups (475ml) Cold filtered water, for thinning
• 1/2 cup (120ml) Maple syrup
• 1 tbsp (15ml) Pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp Sea salt

Instructions

1. 1

   Rinse the rice under cold water until the water runs clear. Place the rice, blanched almonds, and broken-up cinnamon sticks into a high-speed blender. Pulse for 30–60 seconds until the mixture looks like coarse sand.

2. 2

   Transfer the coarse mixture into a large glass bowl or pitcher and add 4 cups of filtered water. Cover and let it sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours, or ideally overnight in the refrigerator, to allow the grains to soften.

3. 3

   After soaking, pour the entire mixture (water and solids) back into the high-speed blender. Blend on high for 2 full minutes until the mixture is as smooth as possible.

4. 4

   Strain the mixture through a nut milk bag or a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth into a clean pitcher. Squeeze well to extract all the liquid, discarding the remaining gritty pulp.

5. 5

   Stir in the remaining 2 cups of cold filtered water, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and sea salt. Mix thoroughly until well combined.

6. 6

   Chill the horchata in the refrigerator until ice-cold. Stir well before serving over ice.