Snowmelt Horchata

Procedure

1. Rinse and soak. Rinse the long-grain white rice in a sieve until the water runs mostly clear. Combine the rice, the 2 broken cinnamon sticks and the warm water in a large bowl or jar, cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.⏱ 6:00:00
2. Blend. Pour the rice, cinnamon and soaking water into a blender and blend on high until the rice is completely pulverized, about 2 minutes.⏱ 2:00
3. Strain twice. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve lined with a double layer of cheesecloth or a thin, clean kitchen towel, squeezing out every drop. Strain a second time for a silky finish and discard the solids.
4. Sweeten. Stir in the cold water, whole milk, granulated sugar, vanilla extract and a pinch of fine salt until the sugar dissolves. Taste and add more sugar a spoonful at a time if you like it sweeter.
5. Pour the snowmelt. Fill 6 glasses with crushed ice. Stir the horchata, since the rice settles, and pour it over. Stand two long cinnamon sticks in each glass like antennae and dust with the ground cinnamon.