Horchata de Arroz is a popular & refreshing Mexican drink made with ground rice, milk and cinnamon.

INGREDIENTS
— Use 1 cup of any uncooked white rice and 2 cinnamon sticks
— The milk base comes from 1 can each of evaporated milk and condensed milk. This is what gives the horchata the wonderful flavor and a creamy consistency.
— If the condensed milk does not make it sweet enough for you, you can add more sugar to taste.
— Ground cinnamon to garnish (optional)
— 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional) - Just don't use too much vanilla as we don't want to overpower the cinnamon & rice flavor.
— I once tasted an Horchata from La Santisima Mexican Restaurant that is made with chunks of fruits (cantaloupe, strawberries, grapes) and pecans. It's so good! I think I'll do that to mine next time.

HOW TO MAKE HORCHATA
— Wash and drain the rice.
— Place the rice, cinnamon stick and 4 cups of water into a bowl. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight or a minimum of 4 hours (the longer the better!).
— Add 1/2 of the rice & 1/2 of the soaking water and some of the cinnamon stick in a blender.
— A mixing bowl with rice being soaked in water and cinnamon sticks
— Soak the rice with cinnamon
— Rice and milk being blended in a blender
— Blend rice with the soaking water
— Puree until it's very smooth and forms a paste like texture. About 4 minutes long.
— Using a very fine strainer (or some cheese cloth) pour the mixture over a pitcher. Strain out as much liquid as possible, pushing on the solids with a spatula or spoon.
— Repeat this process for the rest of the rice & cinnamon mixture.
— Rice & water mixture inside a blender
— Blend until rice is fine
— Straining the rice & water mixture thru a mesh strainer
— Strain rice & water mixture
— Stir in the milks, vanilla (optional), and 4 cups of water. Stir well.
— Taste and add more sugar or water if needed.
— Chill and stir before serving over ice.

4 servings

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups (244g) long grain white rice (dry uncooked)
1/2 cup (50g) sliced almonds
2 cinnamon sticks (appox 2 1/2-inches each)
4 cups (945ml) cold water
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar, or more to taste
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (475ml) whole milk

Instructions
Add rice, almonds and cinnamon sticks to a high speed blender. Blend about 30 - 60 seconds on high speed or until finely pulverized, stopping occasionally and shaking blender if mixture sticks to the bottom.
Pour in 2 cups water, sugar and vanilla. Blend an additional 30 seconds. If your blender can fit the additional liquid pour in remaining 2 cups water, and milk, otherwise pour into a large enough container to fit along with water and milk.
Cover and chill 8 - 12 hours.
Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a pitcher. Serve with ice if desired, garnishing each serving with ground cinnamon or cinnamon sticks.

Tepache, a fermented pineapple beverage, is a signature drink for Mexicans. In some parts of Mexico, if you are lucky, you may still find tepache vendors in the streets, but its popularity has been declining among younger generations. So you can imagine Raquel’s joyful surprise when she stumbled upon a 2014 Bon Appetit article titled “Why You Should be Drinking Tepache Cocktails!” As a nod to her pre-Hispanic roots, she is happy to share her Tepache recipe here, for your next cocktail.

YIELD: ABOUT 4 TO 6 SERVINGS, DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE PINEAPPLE
Outer peel of 1 pineapple (eat the rest of the pineapple or refrigerate it for another use) Filtered water
1 cup (200 g) panela or brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
3 or 4 whole cloves and/or star anise

Place the pineapple peels in a half gallon to 1 gallon (2 to 4 L) Mason jar or ceramic container. Add filtered water to the vessel to cover the peels.

Dissolve the panela in about 1 cup (250 ml) lukewarm water and pour it into the container. Add the cinnamon and cloves. Stir. Cover with a clean cloth, kitchen towel, paper towel, or coffee filter and secure it with a rubber band. Write the brewing date on a piece of masking tape and stick it to the outside of the container.

Let it sit at room temperature for 3 to 5 days.

Try tasting on day 3. The warmer the room, the quicker it will ferment. When it starts tasting less sweet and more tart, it is done. Pour the tepache through a strainer into a jar or bottles with airtight lids. Refrigerate and serve cold.

You can make apple cider vinegar (or any kind of fruit vinegar, including grape vinegar) by leaving Apple Cider Soda, Hard Apple Cider, or any fruit wine exposed to air at room temperature for a long time.
Follow all the steps for making Apple Cider Soda and just let it keep fermenting, covered with a clean cloth, kitchen towel, paper towel, or coffee

filter and sealed with a rubber band, at room temperature (rather than bottling after the bubbling slows down). Continue stirring every day (to prevent mold from forming on top) and tasting it occasionally. Once it has soured and the bubbling has ceased (after a week or much longer), you may optionally add as much as 1/4 cup (60 ml) of existing raw apple cider vinegar per quart (liter) to speed up the rest of the process. Be sure to leave your liquid far from any other open fermenting culture to prevent cross-contamination. You can let it ferment for up to a year at room temperature. Taste it from time to time. It is done when there is no longer any trace of sweetness.

Once it’s done, apple cider vinegar is best bottled in capped glass containers; glass is ideal for long-term storage of acidic liquids, and carbon dioxide pressure buildup is not a concern with vinegar, since all the sugar is gone and there’s very little chemical reaction still happening.

Note that vinegar you make this way will not necessarily be as strong as vinegar that you buy at the store, which is adjusted to a standardized strength. This means that in recipes that rely on specific acidity levels for reasons of chemistry or food safety (such as canning), store-bought vinegar is best.