Horchata (Mexican Rice Drink)

Method

1. 1Rinse and soak. Rinse the rice under cold running water until the water runs mostly clear — this removes excess surface starch that would otherwise make the finished drink cloudy and gluey. Break the cinnamon sticks in half: the exposed inner surface releases far more flavor than the outer bark alone. Put the rinsed rice and the broken cinnamon into a large bowl or pitcher and pour over 1 liter of cold water. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, overnight if possible. The longer it soaks, the more cinnamon flavor saturates the rice water, and the more the rice softens for easier blending.
2. 2Blend in batches. Transfer the soaked rice, cinnamon, and all the soaking water to a blender. If your sticks are hard cassia rather than soft canela, lift them out before blending, or make the drink with 1 tsp ground cinnamon instead of sticks. Do not discard the soaking water — it already carries significant rice and cinnamon flavor. Blend on high for 2 full minutes until the rice is pulverised into a very fine paste and the liquid looks opaque and creamy. If your blender is small, work in two batches. The blending step is the most important one for texture: under-blended rice leaves gritty particles that no amount of straining fully removes.
3. 3Strain carefully. Set a fine-mesh strainer lined with a double layer of cheesecloth over a large pitcher. Pour the blended mixture through slowly, pressing on the solids with a spatula to extract every last bit of liquid. The rice pulp left behind is spent — discard it. If the strained liquid still feels slightly gritty on your tongue, strain it a second time through clean cheesecloth. Most batches need only one pass with good cheesecloth, but a second strain costs almost nothing and guarantees a smooth result.
4. 4Add milk, sugar, and vanilla. Pour the milk into the strained rice water. Add the sugar and vanilla extract. Stir well until the sugar is completely dissolved. Taste now and adjust: add more sugar if it needs sweetness, more milk for creaminess, or up to 500 ml of cold water, a little at a time, to lighten the body. The sweetness level in horchata is entirely personal — some people want it barely sweet, others want it like a dessert drink. Traditional Mexican horchata is fairly sweet; adjust to what actually tastes good to you.
5. 5Chill and serve. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving — horchata is always served cold. To serve, stir or shake the pitcher well, since the rice starch settles to the bottom quickly. Pour over plenty of ice in tall glasses. Dust with a pinch of ground cinnamon. Keep leftover horchata in a sealed container in the fridge and stir before each use. Drink within 2 days; if it tastes sour or you see bubbles, pour it away.