Have you ever had it? Was it a childhood treat made by Mama or perhaps Abuela or Abuelo? Was it something you purchased? What did you think of it if it was not a childhood treat?
I made some this evening, using the simplest recipe I could find, and it is the first time I’ve ever tasted it. Not bad at all, but I think this recipe was a little heavy on the cinnamon, easily corrected in the next batch.
While it is a sweet drink, I could very easily see this being made with a bit of pepper of some sort, a hint of heat.
Yes, I’ve had it many times; sweetness varied. I like it. I think if you don’t mind making it at home, you’ll find there are a wide variety of options.
I’d only had the rice version until I moved to DC, which has a large Salvadoran population, where I found horchata mix made from “morro” seeds in the grocery store. Which I liked. I’d like to try the chufa version.
Yeah, I’ve always been interested in trying the chufa/tiger nuts version. Where I live in Chicago, horchata is pretty much everywhere. It’s good stuff, though a little too sweet to indulge too frequently. Not sure when I first tried it … probably in the 90s. I’m more likely to drink agua de jamaica (hibiscus), though that is fairly sweet too, but the tartness of the hibiscus nicely offsets it.
I have a vivid memory of my first taste of horchata. I was in a tiny, family-run restaurant in Palenque and it was really hot and humid. The ice cold horchata was just what I needed. I gulped it down and got a second one to drink with my meal to soothe my mouth from the spicy food