Homemade Horchata

While browsing Pinterest, I saw a recipe for rice milk. I have never tasted rice milk, and lately I've been indulging myself with Almond and Soy milk, so this looked exceptionally delicious to me. I continued on with my browsing and then stumbled upon Horchata. It's something that I've seen recipes for and heard my mother in law mention before, but i had never had it. I took this as a sign, I was GOING to make this. I seriously wasted no time gathering all the ingredients, which was incredibly easy since i had everything on hand, and went straight to work. Here's how it all went down:

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of rice ( I used long grain)

6 cups of water, divided

1 cup of milk of choice ( I used Vanilla Almond)

1/4 cup of sugar or adjusted to sweetness (Also works well with Agave)

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

Begin by washing your rice in warm water. Bring a cup of water to boil and add the rice and cinnamon stick. Boil the rice on medium heat until all the water evaporates, when the first cup of water evaporates, add a second cup of water and boil until it evaporates. (This is to soften the rice as much as possible so that it can blend easier)

Once the water is evaporated, you can turn the heat off and add the rice to a blender along with 4 cups of cold water. Blend for 3 minutes, then strain into a bowl. Add the rice milk back into the blender along with the sugar, milk, vanilla and and cinnamon (I did this process in batches since my blender couldn't handle the amount of liquid) Once blended through, strain once more to eliminate any rice granules. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. 

It's a very thick drink, definitely will fill the tummy up. I had mine different ways, on the rocks, with a shot or two of strong coffee, and I've read you can add some alcohol to spice it up. I enjoyed this sipping drink, I hope you do too!