There’s this small taqueria in Chicago we love going to called Allende and not only do they have like the best tacos ever, but they also serve a delicious homemade horchata. It’s pretty much heaven in a cup.
Late last year I fell in love with Rumchata, which is basically a mix of horchata plus rum, but super concentrated. It tastes delicious– think leftover milk at the bottom of your bowl of cinnamon toast crunch cereal– but the only thing that I didn’t like was the artificial flavoring in the bottled stuff.
So today I made everything from scratch, from the horchata to the homemade version of Rumchata, and let me tell you it was so worth it. I’m glad this made a huge pitcher full because I know I’ll be drinking this a lot the next few days.
Homemade agua de horchata
Makes a giant vat of this delicious stuff, about 12 cups!Â
3/4 cup white rice
1 1/2 cups hot water
12 ounces evaporated milk
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
8 cups cold filtered water
4 cups vanilla rice milk (I used Rice Dream Vanilla)
1/2 cup granulated sugar, or to taste
// Pour the rice into a medium sized bowl and then dump the hot water over it. Let this sit for 2 hours.
Strain the rice and put into a blender. To this, add the evaporated milk, condensed milk, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Blend together for several minutes until the rice is really broken down and the mixture is fairly smooth.
Strain this mixture into the biggest pitcher you got and then add the 8 cups water, vanilla rice milk, and sugar. Stir together and taste, adding more sugar if you’d like. At this point you can pour it over ice and enjoy right away or stash in the fridge to chill. The longer this sits the happier and tastier it gets.
But if you really wanna get down and dirty…
Homemade rumchata
Makes 1 drink
1 cup horchata
1 ounce spiced rum
1/2 ounce simple syrup*
Dash ground cinnamon
Cinnamon stick, for glitz (optional)
*Simple syrup is equal parts water to granulated sugar, heated until sugar dissolves. 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar is plenty and will keep for about a month in a jar kept in the fridge. Use this for cocktails all month long. 🙂
// In a glass with ice cubes, mix together the horchata, spiced rum and simple syrup together. Sprinkle with cinnamon and add the cinnamon stick if you’d like. Serve it up!
Will you be my valentine and give me Rumchata? I will totally make you the best paper cut out heart ever. I adore horchata and have been toying with making it from scratch too so I’ll be trying your version. Definitely! So perfect for the season.
Im soaking hte rice for this now…..I cant wait!
Hi Jahsiland,
I hope the horchata turned out well for you! I’ve been craving to make another batch sometime soon. It’s tricky though– I end up drinking the whole thing! 🙂