Mexican Horchata with Homemade Cinnamon Simple Syrup

Quick Summary: Creamy, cooling rice water drink sweetened with cinnamon-vanilla simple syrup. The perfect non-alcoholic beverage for hot days and spicy food. This method separates the rice base from the sweetener so you can customize sweetness per glass. Also works as a cocktail base with rum or brandy. Includes homemade spiced simple syrup recipe. Prep: 30 min + overnight soaking | Makes: 8 servings

Jump to: RECIPE | What is Horchata? | Sweeteners for Horchata | Method for Rice Base | FAQ

If beverages could be called comfort food,  this milky white, cooling  rice drink known as horchata in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, would be at the top of the “comfort drink”  list. 

Horchata’s soothing sweet creaminess makes it a perfect non-alcoholic drink for hot days and/or spicy food, and it also lends itself to a pretty awesome cocktail when mixed with rum or brandy.

Most store-bought or restaurant horchata is too sweet for my taste. Making it at home solves that. I separate the rice base from the sweetener, so everyone can adjust their own glass.

The cinnamon-vanilla simple syrup I make for this is useful beyond horchata too: add it to coffee, hot tea (as a London Fog), or sparkling water.

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What is Horchata?

Horchata is a sweet rice-water drink popular throughout Mexico and Latin America. The Mexican version of this drink is traditionally made by soaking rice (or rice and almonds) in water, sweetening it by adding sugar, cinnamon and sometimes vanilla or other spices, and then straining and serving over ice.

There are several variations of horchata. In Valencia, Spain, horchata is known as orxata and is made with tigernuts (chufas in Spanish) rather than rice. 

Some recipes also include sesame seeds or barley, but the basic horchata is rice-water or rice-milk, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.

It’s served ice cold, often in big glass jars (vitroleros) at taquerias and street vendors.

Is Horchata Always Sweet?

If you buy a pre-made horchata from the store or a vendor or a restaurant, you might find the drink to be overly sweet. It’s quite easy to make your own horchata, and if you want to customize the sweetness even further, make your own cinnamon-infused simple syrup (see recipe in the recipe card).

When making your own homemade horchata, you can make the rice base without sugar and then adjust the sweetness of the final drink by adding a simple syrup on a glass-by-glass basis. 

I made a homemade simple syrup and infused it with cinnamon sticks and vanilla to get a really outstanding sweetener for the horchata.

After straining the rice water you end up with a base that you can pour into a glass, and then add the level of sweetness you prefer by adding the simple syrup , stir and add ice.

This also works well if you are making horchata for a crowd as sweetness preferences are all over the board.

How to Make the Rice Base

In researching horchata methods, I found many variations on whether to pulverize the rice to a powder alone, or with the water, or in stages. 

I tried 3 different methods and found that pulverizing the rice without water and then soaking the powder in water overnight before straining provided the lightest texture while still maintaining the rice flavor. 

Here is the recipe in short. Detailed measurements and directions are in the recipe card:

1. Grind raw long-grain rice to a fine powder in a blender (a Vitamix works best)
2. Transfer powder to a bowl and cover with warm water
3. Refrigerate at least 8 hours, preferably overnight
4. Strain through cheesecloth-lined sieve, squeezing to extract all the rice flavor

This produces a lighter, cleaner texture than methods that blend soaked rice. The rice base keeps refrigerated for 4-5 days.

Tip: Don’t skip the overnight soak. The time allows the rice starch to fully hydrate and release into the water.

How to Make Cinnamon-Vanilla Simple Syrup

• Combine 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan. Add 2 cinnamon sticks, 1/2 of whole star anise, 3 cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.
• Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat, cover, and steep 30 minutes to 1 hour. Strain and refrigerate.

This syrup keeps indefinitely refrigerated. Use it in:

Making the sweetener separately lets you control sweetness and creates a great syrup that you can use in any number of drinks.

Or try it in this recipe for a warm and cozy London Fog (aka an Earl Grey tea latte)

Ways to Serve Horchata

For Basic Horchata:

Pour rice base over ice, filling glass about three-quarters full. Add 2-3 tablespoons cinnamon simple syrup (adjust to taste). Stir well. Garnish with a cinnamon stick or sprinkle of ground cinnamon.

Optional additions:

• Splash of milk or rice milk for extra creaminess
• More vanilla
• A pinch of nutmeg

When serving a crowd, keep the rice base and syrup separate. Let guests sweeten to their preference.

For Cocktails:

Horchata makes an excellent cocktail base. The creamy sweetness pairs well with:

• Rum: White or aged rum, 1.5-2 oz per glass of horchata
• Brandy: Particularly good with the cinnamon notes
• Bourbon: For a richer, warmer drink
• Kahlúa: Creates a coffee-horchata combination

Serve over ice. The horchata mellows the alcohol and creates something like a lighter, cinnamon-spiced White Russian.

Here is an easy recipe that uses the syrup in a rum-horchata summer cocktail.

FAQ

DIY Horchata with Cinnamon Simple Syrup

How to make both a horchata base and a cinnamon vanilla simple syrup to use in a range of different cocktails

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Servings 8

Calories 184

Author Dorothy Stainbrook

Equipment

• Blender
• Sieve
• Cheesecloth
• Saucepan

Ingredients

1x2x3x

Ingredients for Horchata Base

• 1 cup long grain rice
• 5 cups water

Ingredients for Simple Syrup

• 1 cups sugar
• 1 cups water
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• ½ star anise
• 3 cloves
• ½ tsp vanilla

Instructions

 

Directions for the Horchata Base:

• In a blender (VitaMix is great for this), grind the rice finely, almost to a powder.
  1 cup long grain rice
• Transfer the rice to a bowl then pour warm water over it. Cover and refrigerate at least eight hours, but preferably overnight.
  5 cups water
• Strain the mixture through a sieve lined with a few layers of cheesecloth, squeezing it to extract as much of the rice flavor as possible. Some recipes blended the rice and water and water together again before straining it, but I did not see the need to do this and was quite happy with the flavor.
• Store in covered container until ready to use.

To make the spice syrup:

• In a saucepan add sugar, water, whole spices and vanilla (if you don’t want to spoon the whole spices out later, wrap them in a bit of cheesecloth and secure with a band or tie and place the bag in the pot).

  Bring the mix to a boil slowly, stirring to dissolve the sugar. After the mix comes to a boil, cover, turn off the heat and steep the spices in the syrup for 30 min. to 1 hour.

  Strain the syrup to remove the whole spices (or remove the spice bag if you used that) and pour syrup into bottle and refrigerate.
  1 cups sugar, 1 cups water, 2 cinnamon sticks, 1/2 star anise, 3 cloves, 1/2 tsp vanilla

To serve:

• Pour rice water over ice and stir in 2-3 Tablespoons of the syrup. Use cinnamon stick as stir stick or sprinkle cinnamon on top.

  Many people will add milk or rice milk to the drink also. I prefer mine really light without the milk, but it is definitely more creamy and lush with milk.
• Storage: Store the rice-water in the refrigerator for 4-5 days and the syrup in the refrigerator indefinitely.

Notes

** The cinnamon vanilla syrup is wonderful with other drinks, including hot cider, Irish coffee (use the syrup instead of sugar), and Italian sodas (use 2-3 Tablespoons with 8 oz sparkling water and stir).

Nutrition

Calories: 184kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 2gFat: 0.3gSaturated Fat: 0.05gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.05gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.1gSodium: 11mgPotassium: 32mgFiber: 1gSugar: 25gVitamin A: 3IUVitamin C: 0.03mgCalcium: 21mgIron: 0.3mg

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