Homemade Horchata

So I know I promised like 3 weeks ago to post my homemade horchata recipe but I had tweaked it a little and wanted to make sure  everything worked the way I thought it would.  And it did.  This was my best version yet and really rocked.  It makes more than the first few recipes I tried which is great but alas, between the three of us we still polished off a solid 2 quarts of it.  My little missy drank a ton of this stuff.  She knows where the good stuff is at of course.  It's best to make it a day ahead...but I will admit I never seem to remember to do it that far ahed.  The longer it sits the better it tastes.  I'm just saying.

Homemade Horchata

Makes 2 quarts

1 1/3 cups uncooked white long grain rice

2 cinnamon sticks

6 2/3 cups water

1 1/3 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract (use clear vanilla for a whiter horchata)

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

2/3 cup sugar

Put rice, 3 cups water, and cinnamon sticks in  blender.  Blend for about 1 minute.  Add as much of the remaining water as you can (my 6 cup blender couldn't handle 2 cups more water and we had some spillage so be wary) and blend until the rice and cinnamon sticks are roughly ground, about another minute.  Transfer rice water mixture to a large pitcher and add the rest of the water.  Let mixture soak overnight or at least 3 to 4 hours.

Strain rice mixture through cheese cloth (or coffee filter) into another pitcher.  If working by yourself this is best done in small batches.

Add milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar and stir well.  If desired, refrigerate until well chilled.  

Serve in tall glasses with ice.

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