Sparkling Hazelnut Horchata
Horchata, hazelnut, cinnamon, and bubbles. Stranger than it sounds, better than it sounds.
Carbonating a creamy drink sounds like a mistake. Horchata is rice-based rather than dairy-based, though, and that is what makes it work — there is no fat to curdle and no protein to go grainy, just starch and sugar and cinnamon, all of which get lighter with a little gas behind them.
The hazelnut syrup is the addition that justifies the whole exercise. Rice, cinnamon, and toasted nut is a flavor triangle that already exists in Mexican baking, and putting it in a cold glass with bubbles simply moves it somewhere new.
The Recipe
Makes 1 · 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 3 oz traditional rice horchata
- 1 oz hazelnut syrup
- 1 dash ground cinnamon
- 1 cup ice cubes
- 4 oz Tehuacan Brillante sparkling mineral water
- 1 cinnamon stick, for garnish
Method
- Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, then add the horchata, hazelnut syrup, and ground cinnamon.
- Shake vigorously for five seconds to chill and thoroughly combine the heavier ingredients.
- Strain the mixture into a plain, smooth double rocks glass filled with fresh ice.
- Top the glass with Tehuacan Brillante sparkling mineral water.
- Stir gently to incorporate the carbonation and garnish with a cinnamon stick.
Notes
Shake the horchata, syrup, and cinnamon hard before the mineral water goes anywhere near it. Ground cinnamon will not disperse on its own and you will drink it in clumps.
Top gently and stir once. Horchata foams enthusiastically, and an aggressive pour will send it over the rim.
Traditional rice horchata, not a horchata-flavored creamer. The texture is the whole point.
Tehuacán Brillante is sparkling mineral water from the Tehuacán Valley in Puebla, naturally mineralized on a journey of roughly eight years through volcanic rock. Family run since 1983, Mexican owned, bottled in 12 fl oz glass. Find us at @drinktehuacan.
