Introducing Brewchata: The Next Great Trend in Cold Brew Coffee

Would you like room for cream in that cold brew? Maybe soy? What about some sweet cinnamon rice milk that some have called “the nectar of the gods?”

Austin summers last for most of the year, forcing baristas to get creative with their cold brew concoctions. I, for one, am thankful. Not for the unrelenting heat of the Texas sun, but for the sweet, spicy, Mexican coffee delicacy that resulted from it.

“Brewchata,” as it is lovingly called at Austin’s Cuvée Coffee, is a refreshing new take on cold brew coffee. In a city that is the perfect blend of Tex and Mex, finding inspiration in sweet Mexican drinks only feels right.

For those of you whose tongues haven’t been blessed by the heavenly taste of horchata, it’s a drink made by adding vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar into rice milk. You know all of your friends that have said, “They should sell the milk that’s left at the end of a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch?” They haven’t tried horchata. Because that’s exactly what it is.

Cuvée Coffee and Fresa’s Chicken al Carbon are a few Austin favorites that are starting to take their cold brew to the next level by creating a 50/50, or sometimes 70/30, cold brew to horchata ratio. Call it “Brewchata.” Call it a “Black and White”. Call it what it is: delicious.

For those cold brew purists out there, sure this may seem blasphemous. Yes, it’s sweet. And maybe you do lose a lot of the cold brew’s flavor profile. But after seven months of making the cold brew rounds in Austin, it’s nice to mix it up every now and then. So if you like things that taste good, and are willing to muddy the pure cold brew waters, try out this tasty drink. And hurry before the 80-degree fall sets in. And even if you do miss it, Cuvée is even considering a fall drink that consists of Horchata and espresso instead of cold brew. Every season is horchata season.

Not into paying coffee shop prices? No problem. Just make your own cold brew using your french press, a mason jar, or using the pour over method. Making the horchata is a little time consuming, but it definitely isn’t hard. Or you can go to your closest Mercado, bodega, or local grocery store and buy it in bulk. The ratio isn’t set in stone, though 50/50 seems to be the norm. If you like it less sweet, add less horchata. If you want a little coffee with your horchata, more power to you. Do a heavy horchata pour.