I grew up in Chicago, and believe it or not, we have a HUGE Hispanic population. One of my favorite things to do with my friends when I was younger was exploring the myriad of Mom and Pop Mexican restaurants. I could eat tacos for every single meal for the rest of my life and die a happy man. Al Pastor with fresh lime, cilantro and onion and I'm good to go. But, I'm not hear to talk about food. If you have never experienced the wonder of Horchata, do yourself a flavor and find a local Mexican restaurant near you and go get yourself a tall glass. Make sure it's a place where they make it fresh on a daily basis, preferably by an old Hispanic woman who's undeniably chipper. This divine elixir is what dreams are made of.

Essentially, Horchata is a drink made with several ground ingredients—almonds, sesame seeds, rice, barley, tiger nuts or melon seeds; every household, restaurant or taqueria worth its salt will have their own variation.

Horchata

|Flavor Co.|Flavor|%| |:-|:-|:-| |FA|Almond|1.25| |OOO|Cream (Milky Undertone)|2.5| |DIYFS|Holy Vanilla|1| |INW|Marzipan|0.15| |FA|Meringue|1.75| |FLV|Rich Cinnamon|0.15| |FE|Sweet Rice|3| |CAP|Vanilla Custard|1|

Total Flavor 10.8%

Steep Time 14+ days

Horchata brings me back to my childhood. My favorite Horchata was from a spot called Zacatecas. They made it with almond milk, rice and cinnamon. This stuff was fuego. I've been working on a Horchata vape for quite some time, longer than I'd like to admit, and I think I've finally come to a final version of this delicious drink. Let's break it down and mix it up amigos.

Focal Points: Milky, Rice, Cinnamon

Let's talk about the Milk. Lot's of versions came and went without the almond. I didn't think it was necessary, but all of the versions with FA Almond just came out better tasting. I'ts a very rich almond, kind of like an almond extract. It's buttery and smooth. It also helps thicken up the creams and even lends creaminess as well. FA Almond + ooo Cream (milky undertone) reminds me of Silk almond milk. Ooo Cream (milky undertone) is legitimately a whole milk to my taste buds, one of the most accurate milk flavors I've tried. I know 2.5% seems a touch high, but it works well. Trust. It's pretty thick and almost has a whipped feeling about it. I've been using this one a lot lately, even over FA Cream Fresh. This combo tastes like a fatty, thick, velvety almond milk and served as a great start to my cream base.

Often times people say Horchata tastes like the milk at the bottom of a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I agree it is quite similar, so I decided to throw our trusty FA Meringue at this base. The FA Meringue brings some sugary sweetness to the creams and transforms it into an even richer, sweeter almond milk. I used INW Marzipan in a very small dose to accentuate the almond taste, bring some more sweetness, and really fill out that almond milk. It also helps elevate our vanilla notes in the cream and creates a more accurate profile.

Bring on the rice. FE Sweet Rice is stellar. It's super authentic and tastes like the rice has been sitting in a glorious bath of cream. It's a bit heavy and it sits really nicely with our milk base. This is exactly what I was looking for.

FLV Rich Cinnamon is the King of the North. It's spicy, and it's sweet. We know it, we love it. Just a little bit here to really drive that rice milk into Horchata territory. 3 drops per 60ml is perfecto.

The last 2 ingredients really helped me step up the accuracy. In Horchata we always use a touch of vanilla extract. Whenever I need a flavor that's similar to vanilla extract, I use DIYFS Holy Vanilla. It's got a deep vanilla flavor and reminds me of cracked vanilla beans. That's what I wanted.

In the first few versions of this recipe I did not use CAP Vanilla Custard and was using a touch more HV. But after the steep, I found myself wanting a thicker profile. Horchata is thick and almost buttery or waxy. It's lingers on your tongue and mouth when you drink it. I dialed back the HV and threw in some good ol' CAP Vanilla Custard to bring some much needed weight. It worked like a charm.

So go to a local taqueria. Grab yourself some Horchata. Eat some tacos. Then, mix up a batch of this delicious cinnamon rice milk.

Hope you like it. Adios.