Coffee Drink
Horchata Coffee: Iced Recipe, Calories and Caffeine
Horchata coffee combines coffee with sweet horchata. This iced horchata latte uses a rice-and-cinnamon horchata base plus espresso, without adding dairy milk or syrup. Start with prepared, chilled horchata: the five-minute recipe below is for assembling the coffee drink, not making the rice beverage from scratch.
Drink Snapshot
- Caffeine
- About 75 mg referenceGeneric USDA espresso, 36 gCalculated from a generic prepared-espresso record, not measured in the home shot. Actual coffee caffeine varies.
- Calories
- About 130 kcalNamed rice drink and espresso referenceUses DREAM Ricemilk Horchata Traditional. Homemade horchata and other cartons can differ substantially.
Serving, sugar and sources
- Serving
- 180 ml prepared rice horchata + 36 g espresso + 100 g ice; no additional milk or sugar
- Made with
- Prepared rice-and-cinnamon horchata and espresso
- Sugar
- About 17.3 g total. From the sweetened horchata in this example. No extra sugar is added during assembly.
- Preparation
- About 5 minutes with chilled horchata and espresso equipment ready
Ingredient calculation using the DREAM label and USDA espresso reference, checked 26 September 2026; not laboratory testing. See the full calculation or label comparison.
Key Takeaways
- 1Use 180 ml prepared rice horchata, 36 g espresso and 100 g ice. Stir the horchata before measuring it.
- 2Horchata recipes vary. Rice-based Mexican-style versions differ from Valencian tiger-nut horchata, and some contain milk or almonds.
- 3The named rice-drink example is about 130 kcal, 17.3 g sugar and 75 mg reference caffeine. Another horchata or coffee needs its own figures.
On This Page8 Sections
Iced Horchata Coffee Recipe
Makes one drink in a 400 ml glass. The glass size leaves room for ice and stirring; it is not the measured liquid yield. Have the horchata cold and the espresso machine ready before starting.
Ingredients
- 180 ml chilled prepared rice horchata; reference: DREAM Ricemilk Horchata Traditional
- 18 g coffee beans, ground for espresso, to yield 36 g prepared espresso
- 100 g ice cubes
Method
- Stir the chilled horchata, then measure 180 ml. Put 100 g ice in a 400 ml heatproof glass and add the horchata.
- Using an espresso machine ready to brew, extract 36 g espresso from 18 g ground coffee into a small cup.
- Pour the espresso over the horchata and ice. Stir gently and serve promptly.
The espresso brewing guide explains grinding and extraction. Here, 18 g is the dry coffee dose; 36 g is the collected espresso. The drink uses the collected coffee, not the dry grounds. This is a home starting point, not a claim that every café uses the same ratio.
Which Horchata Should You Use?
Choose a prepared rice-and-cinnamon horchata for this version. Read the ingredient list before adding coffee: some bases include dairy, almonds or extra flavorings. Plain rice milk with no cinnamon or sweetener will make a different drink.
The nutrition example uses DREAM Ricemilk Horchata Traditional, a ready-to-drink rice beverage with cane sugar, cinnamon and vanilla flavor. It is a convenient reference, not a required brand. If using a powder or concentrate, prepare it according to its own directions before measuring the 180 ml portion.
Horchata is not one universal recipe. Goya's Mexican-style version uses rice, almonds and cinnamon, with the blended solids strained out. In Valencia, horchata is made from chufas, or tiger nuts. A tiger-nut drink can also be combined with coffee, but its flavor and nutrition are not interchangeable with this rice-based example.
Can You Use Homemade Horchata?
Yes. Prepare and chill a complete horchata recipe first, then measure the finished drink. The linked Goya recipe is one documented option; it contains almonds. Its soaking and chilling happen before this coffee recipe begins.
Do not calculate a strained homemade drink by assuming that every gram of dry rice and almond ends up in the glass. Some material is discarded. A homemade base needs its own reliable yield and nutrition information rather than inheriting the carton estimate below.
Horchata Coffee Calories, Sugar and Caffeine
This defined serving is about 130 kcal, 17.3 g total sugar and 75 mg reference caffeine. The horchata supplies the sweetness, while the espresso supplies the caffeine. Adding ice changes dilution as it melts, not the amount of caffeine already in the glass.
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| Component | Calories | Total sugar | Caffeine reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 180 ml DREAM horchata | About 128 kcal | 17.3 g | 0 mg |
| 36 g prepared espresso | About 3 kcal | 0 g | About 75 mg |
| Whole drink | About 130 kcal | About 17.3 g | About 75 mg |
Serving assumptions and calculation
The DREAM label gives 170 kcal and 23 g total sugar per 240 ml. Multiplying by 180 ÷ 240 gives 127.5 kcal and 17.25 g sugar. The ingredient list has no coffee, tea or cocoa.
USDA prepared espresso, NDB 14210, gives 9 kcal and 212 mg caffeine per 100 g. For 36 g, that is 3.24 kcal and 76.32 mg caffeine. The combined energy estimate is 130.74 kcal. Headline values are rounded; they are not measured results for a particular espresso extraction.
This calculation counts the whole serving and excludes additional milk, syrup or garnish. Follow the physical product label if its formula differs from the online reference.
What Changes When You Use Less Horchata?
Holding the same 36 g espresso fixed makes the rice-drink portion the main change in calories and sugar:
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| Horchata portion | Whole-drink calories | Total sugar |
|---|---|---|
| 120 ml | About 90 kcal | 11.5 g |
| 180 ml: this recipe | About 130 kcal | 17.3 g |
| 240 ml | About 175 kcal | 23 g |
Using 60 ml less of this horchata removes about 43 kcal and 5.8 g sugar while keeping the coffee dose unchanged. It also makes a smaller, more coffee-forward drink. These are calculations from the named label, not results of a tasting comparison.
Get a Smooth Drink Without Hiding the Coffee
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| Problem | Likely preparation issue | Practical adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| First glass tastes different from the last | Rice or cinnamon sediment has settled | Stir the prepared base before each measurement |
| Drink is gritty | Homemade base was not strained finely enough | Improve the straining before adding espresso; stirring cannot remove coarse particles |
| Coffee disappears under sweetness | Large or very sweet horchata portion | Try 120 ml of the same base with the same espresso before adding another shot |
| Drink becomes watery quickly | Warm horchata or a large volume of hot coffee | Chill the base first and keep the hot coffee portion small |
Some fine sediment is different from large grainy particles. Stirring a settled rice beverage can redistribute it; it does not mean raw rice should be added directly to the finished coffee. The swirls in the image will mix together naturally.
Coffee Options and Similar Drinks
Espresso gives this version a small, concentrated coffee addition. If you have no espresso machine, a small portion of moka-pot coffee is an alternative, with a different concentration and caffeine estimate. Start with a modest amount and adjust the horchata to taste.
For an instant-coffee approach, Starbucks at Home publishes an instant coffee horchata recipe. It is a separate rice-and-milk preparation with its own ingredients and advance chilling, not a substitute formula for our five-minute assembly.
An iced latte uses espresso and milk; this version uses prepared horchata as the main liquid. A cinnamon latte shares a spice flavor but does not require rice horchata. Café de olla is another distinct coffee preparation, not another name for this drink.
Common Questions
Does horchata coffee contain dairy?
Is ordinary horchata caffeinated?
Can I make it hot?
Is it sugar-free because there is no extra syrup?
Can I make it ahead?
For bases that require refrigeration, the FDA recommends 4°C/40°F or below. Follow the product's storage and use-after-opening directions rather than assigning all horchatas the same shelf life.
Editor's Take
Sources and Further Reading
7 references
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