The Koi Tea Horchata
Who knew horchata and boba go together like peanut butter and jelly (well, besides us)? Its rich, creamy, and cinnamon-y flavors combined with our signature boba makes my mouth water. Upon opening the store, we knew there would be obstacles introducing horchata with boba to the our diverse community as there are at least 9 wide variety of horchata styles, and this does not even touch the variation based on country and city. As people are particular with their horchata, we had to ensure ours was very distinctive to a particular technique as they widely vary. Here’s a stupidly brief rundown of horchata:
Horchata de Anjonjolí - grounded sesame seeds
Horchata de Arroz - a rice based one with at least 3 modifications
Horchata de Chabacano - apricot based, or sometimes with peaches or nectarines if apricots are not in season
Horchata de Chufa - based on ground and sweetened tiger nuts
Horchata Lojana - a completely different style that is simply an herbal drink fused with 18 different herbs
Horchata de Melón - ground melon seeds or cantaloupe depending on the county origin
Horchata de Moras - berry based
Horchata de Morro - contains gourd seeds rather than rice
Semilla de Jicaro - consists of grounded jicaro seeds with rice mixed with a range of different spices, nuts and seeds
As far as what is considered Koi Tea Horchata, it would be one of the Arroz variation with a hint of Moras style. We focus more on a creamier texture (Arroz) than ones you may find at certain taquerias or Tex-Mex with a whisper of a gritty texture (borrowed from Horchata de Morro). In all honesty, ours is probably a mix of Tex-Mex and American-ish horchata. As good base of our customers who purchase horchata hail from El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, and Puerto Rico, we aimed to make an encompassing horchata balancing the range of taste buds.
Would you want to try the other styles with boba?