Toasted Almond Horchata

Long before the rise of fancy brand-name alt-milks, there was horchata. While many people think of it as being traditionally a Mexican drink (it’s often sold alongside other variations of agua fresca in neighborhood taquerias) horchata has its origins in Africa and Spain, where it’s commonly made in horchaterias with tiger nuts (a.k.a. chufa), which actually aren’t nuts but edible tubers that look a bit like wrinkled chickpeas. Across South America horchata is made with rice and/or sesame seeds, melon seeds, peanuts, almonds, or cashews.

For this homemade almond-and-rice milk horchata recipe, we roast the nuts for maximum toasted flavor (though you can skip this step if you prefer). Jasmine rice lends a hint of beguiling fragrance to the drink, but any other long-grain white rice will work just as well. A high-powered blender such as a Vitamix obliterates the rice and nuts, yielding the smoothest, creamiest horchata. Should you have another type of blender, be prepared to strain out lots more bits and get a lot less of the finished drink. If you’d like to keep it dairy-free, use sugar to sweeten the horchata instead of condensed milk. Start with ½ cup and adjust from there to your taste. For a real treat, add a splash of horchata to your morning coffee to give it a jolt of sweet, nutty cinnamon flavor.