Chai-Chata

This Chai Spiced Horchata, or as I like to call it, the Chai-Chata is the perfect fall cocktail. Its creamy texture, warm spices and bit of aged rum will make you feel all warm and cozy inside. It’s dairy free and can easily be batched for a party.

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Horchata is beverage from Mexico made with rice milk that has been spiced with cinnamon and sugar.

To make this taste a bit more like a chai latte, I’m adding a few extra baking spices.

This cocktail can be easily batched for an easy, fun drink to have at Thanksgiving or any other festive gathering. Thanks to the rice, it has a nice creaminess to it, while being dairy free.

The horchata is super easy to make, but it does need to sit for at least 8 hours in the fridge.

2 cups of rice
1 cinnamon stick
10 black peppercorns
8 cloves
6 cardamom pods
1/4 cup of sliced almonds
1/3 cup of sugar
You will also need a blender

First, I’ll crush the spices to release the oils then add them to a pan with the rice.

I’m going to let everything toast for a bit. About 5 minutes or so, tossing a bit until the rice has a golden hue and the spices are aromatic.

Next, I’ll add the rice and spices to my blender, followed by the almonds and sugar. Ill blend this while streaming in the 4 cups of water. If your blender doesn’t allow you to stream in the water, its fine to just put everything in all together at once and blend. I’ll blend on medium high for about a minute. You will see the water has become pretty starchy already.

Once everything is blended up, transfer into a container and store in the fridge for at least 8 hours. I’ll be leaving mine in overnight. The longer it soaks, the more starch will be released from the rice which will make the texture of the drink creamier.

After the horchata has sat for at least 8 hours, you can strain through a fine mesh strainer to filter out any large particles.

We are now ready to build the cocktail.

You will need some aged rum and a high-grade maple syrup along with the Chai Spiced Horchata. For the garnish I like to grate a little more cinnamon on top. You can also use ground cinnamon.

First, I’ll add one and a half ounces of the chai spiced horchata to my shaker tin followed by a half ounce of maple syrup.

Lastly, one and a half ounces of rum.

I’ll vigorously shake for 10- 15 seconds and strain into a Nick and Nora glass, then just micro plane some cinnamon on top for garnish, and that’s it!

You can easily make this nonalcoholic by omitting the rum, and maybe pulling back a bit on the maple syrup, just about a quarter ounce so it’s not too sweet.

Ingredients:

Chai Spiced Horchata:
2 cups of rice
1 cinnamon stick
10 black peppercorns
8 cloves
6 cardamom pods
1/4 cup of sliced almonds
1/3 cup of sugar

Method:

Toast rice and spices for 5 minutes- until the rice has turned golden the spices smell aromatic. Blend all ingredients with 4 cups of water for 1 minute. Store the blended water and rice mixture in the refrigerator for 24 hours, then strain out the solids.