Hemp Horchata

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Today I am posting in honor of Cinco de Nueve, a celebration very closely related to Cinco de Mayo but created to accommodate my silly little world where things come and go without punctual delivery. I really had good intentions of sharing this recipe on the day that it happened, but life threw a few curve balls instead and I was once again late on transmission. I first chose to mindfully shove this post aside in order to make a hospital visit to see my little niece after heart surgery. I thought to myself, this post can wait until tomorrow. Being a day late is totally acceptable, especially under such a circumstance. The next day it was the hairball throw up welcome home gift that was left on almost every mat, rug, bedding, fabric-anything surface in the house that kept me away. Instead of a blog post, I did laundry.

 

 

And then I questioned it. Should I? Should I not?
I came to a conclusion.

Horchata is never inappropriate, no matter how near or far to Cinco de Mayo it happens. Especially Hemp Horchata. Refreshingly chilled, creamy, vanilla infused, cinnamony, sweetness and seriously awesome. Traditionally there are so many ways to make Horchata. You can find recipes made from toasted rice, some with soaked rice, some with milk, some with water, some recipes add other grains, nuts, fruits, etc. The one thing that mostly all traditional recipes have in common is that they’re naturally dairy-free. I made this recipe with soaked rice, homemade hemp milk and without the traditional simple syrup sweetener – just dates and a little bit of stevia (which is absolutely optional). This may sound complicated, but it’s so easy.

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Hemp Horchata
¾ C. long grain white rice
2 C. warm water for soaking
½ C. hemp seeds
6 C. water
1.5 tsp vanilla
1 cinnamon stick
10-12 medjool dates
+ 3 drops of stevia 

1. Bring two cups of water to a near boil and pour over rice. Soak for at least two hours (this is the hard part). 
2. Strain the water from the rice and place rice in a blender with all other ingredients. Blend until the dates and cinnamon become small specks instead of big chunks.
3. In small batches, pour the mixture over a bowl or any other large container that is draped with finely woven cheesecloth or a nut milk bag. After each batch, squeeze any remaining liquid out from the cloth and then repeat until you have filtered out as much liquid from the pulp as possible. 
4. Chill and serve over ice.