Horchata

Method

1. rest240 min
   covered, room temperature, in 1.5 cups of hot water
   rice + broken cinnamon (+ almonds), soaked at least four hours. The grains take up water and their starch granules swell, which is what lets a blender tear them open — dry rice mostly bounces, and the drink comes out thin and chalky. Starting with hot water rather than cold cuts an hour off
2. mash4 min
   blender no more than half full, two minutes on high
   the soaked rice with its water, until the mixture looks like thin cream and no whole grains remain against the light. What you are extracting is starch and the ground endosperm; the cinnamon breaks down with it, which is why a stick blended is more fragrant than ground cinnamon stirred in
3. clarify8 min
   fine sieve lined with a cloth, twice
   the blended liquid, pressing the solids with the back of a spoon and then wringing the cloth. Straining twice is the difference between silky and sandy — the first pass takes the hulls, the second takes the grit you would otherwise feel at the back of the throat. Discard the solids; there is nothing left in them
4. mix4 min
   in a jug, sugar first
   + remaining cold water + sugar + vanilla (+ salt, + condensed milk), stirred until the sugar has fully dissolved before the milk goes in. Sugar dissolves slowly in a cold starchy liquid, and grains left undissolved simply settle on the bottom of the jug
5. store4 min
   refrigerated, stirred again before pouring
   + milk, then chilled. It separates on standing — the rice starch settles — and this is not a fault; stir or shake before every pour. Keeps three days, and thickens slightly over that time as the starch continues to hydrate