with matcha, chocolate, coffee or… prickly pear?

Horchata may be Dallas’ favorite drink this summer, and there’s one place where you can try not only homemade horchata, but some combinations that may surprise you.

CocoAndré Chocolatier is now at Olmo Market in Oak Cliff and is offering a menu of horchatas. The traditional Mexican rice drink is used as a base and other ingredients are mixed in to create a range of refreshing summer flavors.

You can choose between a traditional cinnamon, a dirty espresso-based Horchata or a Horchata with natural flavors such as mango, pineapple, strawberry, matcha, chocolate, mocha or hazelnut.

Feeling adventurous? Try the prickly pear horchata or opt for the Horchata Carlota, named after a Mexican dessert made with cookies and lime.

Chef and owner Andrea Pedraza prides himself on making horchata from scratch every day, using natural and traditional methods.

“It’s hard to find a place in Dallas that makes horchata from scratch because most use powder and just add sugar,” she said. “We make it here every day.”

This drink is one of the most popular Fresh waters In Mexico, it is prepared with rice, cinnamon and sugar. You can also add milk or, if you prefer, use a non-dairy option like coconut milk.

Pedraza, originally from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, remembers her mother and grandmother making it. Once she immigrated to the United States, she made it for her family, and in her business, it became one of her customers’ most beloved products.

“We have a lot of customers who come in and buy horchata because it reminds them of something from their home country,” said Cindy Pedraza, Andrea’s daughter and co-owner of CocoAndré.

Pedraza said they have one customer, for example, who always buys a mocha horchata because it reminds him of pozola traditional drink from the Mexican state of Chiapas. They also heard stories about how their mothers would make it, placing a pitcher full of ice in the center of the table when the whole family sat down to eat.

“It’s nostalgia that drives us to prepare these drinks,” explains Andrea Pedraza. “It’s a return to the origins, to nature, to nutrition, very different from bottled drinks.”

This drink is especially popular in Mexico, but it has a rich history originating in the Mediterranean and arriving in colonial Mexico more than 500 years ago, where it began to be prepared with rice, according to the Larousse Gastronomique dictionary.

You can visit CocoAndré Chocolatier inside Olmo Market, at 2111 S. Edgefield Ave., in Dallas. cocoandre.com.