One Sip House Made Horchata At El Habanero

• Mike Sula
• Horchata, El Habanero

Given the ubiquity of horchata, the cooling, milky, rice-based agua fresca that has no peer when it comes to extinguishing capsaicin-ignited fires, you’d think that you’d see more variation from the frequently chalky, oversweetened concentrates that circulate through JetSprays in taquerias all over the city. There are plenty of ways to make it—with Spanish tiger nuts or cantaloupe seeds, ground almonds or sesame—but I’d settle for one made from scratch. When I took my first pull from the tall icy glass served at Logan Square’s sorta new El Habanero, I knew something was different. Thick, creamy, and only lightly sweetened, it’s something altogether distinct from the muddy, gritty sugar waters slung at most other places. So I wasn’t surprised when I was told they make it in-house from toasted ground rice, milk, cinnamon, sugar, and a just a bit of Mexican chocolate. It’s an excellent foil for the blazing-hot table salsa.