Horchata
Horchata is a sweet, milky-looking drink. In Mexico it is an agua fresca made from rice soaked and blended with cinnamon, strained, sweetened and served over ice. It descends from the Spanish horchata of Valencia, which is made from tiger nuts, and it is one of the most common drinks served with tacos in Mexico and the United States.
Name and history
Wikipedia traces the word to the Latin hordeata, from hordeum, barley, the same root as Italian orzata and the orgeat syrup used in cocktails. Barley drinks were known in ancient Egypt and Rome. Tiger nuts reached the Iberian Peninsula in the eighth century under Muslim rule and became a crop around Valencia, where a drink made from them was recorded by the thirteenth century.
When the idea crossed to the Americas, cooks replaced tiger nuts with white rice and added cinnamon, according to Wikipedia. Wikipedia's article on aguas frescas places horchata among the Old World additions, along with hibiscus and tamarind, that broadened Mexico's flavored-water tradition after the Spanish conquest.
Mexican horchata
Rice horchata is the most common kind in Mexico and is sold as an agua fresca at markets, taquerías and street stands, usually from large glass jars. Uncooked rice is rinsed and soaked in water with cinnamon, blended until milky and strained through a fine cloth or sieve, then sweetened and diluted. México Desconocido's recipe soaks the rice for an hour and flavors it with cinnamon and vanilla. Some cooks add milk, evaporated milk or almonds for a creamier result, while others keep it water-based. Wikipedia notes that in Alvarado, Veracruz, horchata is scented with cempasúchil (marigold) flowers. Horchata is also used as a base for cocktails and coffee drinks.
Other versions
In Spain, horchata de chufa or orxata de xufa is made from soaked, ground and sweetened tiger nuts. It has a protected designation of origin, Chufa de Valencia, administered by a regulatory council, and Alboraya is the main center of production. In El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, horchata de morro is made from the seeds of the jícaro tree ground with rice and spices. In Ecuador, horchata is something else entirely: a red infusion of many herbs, associated with the city of Loja.
Spanish production
Valencian horchata depends on a small, regulated crop. According to Wikipedia, sixteen municipalities grow tiger nuts under the Chufa de Valencia designation on about 485 hectares, producing roughly 8,000 tonnes a year, nearly all of it sold at harvest. The Mexican rice version, by contrast, is made from pantry staples. Wikipedia's agua fresca article lists horchata with jamaica and tamarindo among the most common aguas frescas, and it is a standard offering at taquerías and Mexican restaurants in the United States. Mexico News Daily reports that the first recorded horchata recipe dates to 1748 and gives a Mexican-style version that soaks rice and cinnamon for at least four hours before blending, straining and sweetening it with sugar, vanilla and milk.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup (200 g) long-grain white rice
- 1 cinnamon stick (about 3 in / 8 cm), preferably Mexican canela, broken up
- 7 cups (1.65 liters) water, divided
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup (100 to 150 g) sugar, to taste
- 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240 ml) milk (optional)
- Ice and ground cinnamon to serve
Steps
- Rinse the rice in a sieve until the water runs mostly clear.
- Combine the rice, cinnamon and 3 cups of the water in a bowl. Cover and soak at least 4 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
- Blend the rice, cinnamon and soaking water on high for 1 to 2 minutes, until as smooth as possible.
- Strain through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or a nut-milk bag into a pitcher, squeezing out as much liquid as you can. Discard the solids.
- Stir in the remaining 4 cups of water (or 3 cups water and the milk), the sugar and the vanilla until the sugar dissolves.
- Chill for at least an hour. Stir before serving over ice and dust with ground cinnamon.
The rice settles as it stands, so stir the pitcher each time you pour. Keeps 2 to 3 days refrigerated.
Reviews
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See also
References
- "Horchata". Wikipedia. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Agua fresca". Wikipedia. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Receta de agua de horchata". México Desconocido. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Mix some cinammon, spice and all things nice for a Horchata cocktail with a kick". Mexico News Daily. Retrieved 2026-10-10.