Keto Rumchata

Keto Rumchata - a potent variation on horchata, more so than a liqueur - is super easy to make & delicious. A great low-carb cocktail option!

A few years ago - during a several-months-long stint on low carbbing, I came up with something that I called "Desperate measures" Rumchata.

I can’t remember which particular flavour of FOMO was hitting me at the time. Maybe I saw an ad, maybe a friend posted something about Rumchata on Facebook - whatever it was, I HAD TO have some.

I wasn’t really in the mood to go to the effort of making liqueur, so I did this up more as a cocktail.

Think more “Sort-of horchata, but with rum in it” than “replica of the Rumchata brand name liqueur”!

This comes together very quickly - just measure everything into a shaker, shake it up, and go! - and is actually really, really good!

It definitely quelled that “missing out” feeling... in a tasty way!

What Is Horchata

Horchata is a traditional Mexican drink. Rice is soaked in water then blended and strained, leaving a kind of rice milk.

That liquid is then sweetened with sugar, spiced with cinnamon, and served over ice.

... Between the rice and the sugar, the traditional recipe is quite high in carbohydrates!

What is Rumchata Liqueur?

Rumchata is a brand of flavoured liqueur, themed around the idea of horchata.

Rather than being a rice water based beverage, commercial rumchata is based with cream and rum, sweetened and accented with cinnamon and vanilla.

... like traditional horchata, Rumchata is high carb.

Sugar Free Rumchata Ingredients

This recipe doesn’t have a ton of ingredients, but they’re specific enough that I should mention them...

Unsweetened Almond Milk

I use unsweetened, original flavour almond mild - the kind sold in tetra packs in the refrigerated section. You can use vanilla flavoured if you like, just be sure to buy unsweetened!

Heavy Cream

Heavy cream, heavy whipping cream, and whipping cream can each be used in this recipe - I know that the availability - and sometimes labeling - can vary between regions!

You want to look for something about 30-40% milk fat.

Rum

White rum is traditional, amber rum has more flavour, IMHO.

Personally, I prefer to use Screech - a Jamaican black rum bottled in Newfoundland.

If you can get your hands on some Screech, I definitely recommend giving it a go.

It can feel like jet fuel, the first time you have it (My “Screech in” was.. Not fun!), but it’s actually a really nice, complex, and almost fruity (??) Rum. I love the stuff, and use it in pretty much any recipe that requires rum.

Sugar Substitute

There are two sugar substitutes I use for this, depending on what I have on hand any given day.

First off is Swerve Granular Sweetener, which is straight erythritol. This is what I started with, and it’s a good standby.

More recently, I’ve been into using a Monkfruit/Erthyritol blend (I’ve used several different brands), which I’m slightly preferring to the Swerve.

They both taste a lot like actual sugar, but the blend has a bit less of the “cooling” sensation in the mouth.

Keto Rumchata Equipment

Generally speaking, I shake this up in a pretty basic cocktail shaker.

We recently started reorganizing, which ends up meaning "no idea where anything is".

When shooting the recipe for this blog post, I eventually gave up on trying to find my cocktail shaker, and just grabbed my protein shaker bottle. It may not have been elegant, but it got the job done!

For the record, it's a BlenderBottle, and it's fantastic! It has a wire globe thing inside that really breaks up the protein powder, for a smooth result.

The more you know!

How to Serve this Rumchata Recipe

Cold

Generally speaking, this gets served as a cold drink, shaken with AND poured over ice.

I like to sprinkle a little cinnamon overtop, and sometimes add a cinnamon stick to the glass for a bit of extra visual interest.

Warm

While not traditional, the flavours of this beverage lend themselves to being a warm drink, as well.

To make it as a warm drink, combine everything except the rum and vanilla in a small pan.

Heat together - whisking to combine - just to the point of a simmer.

Remove from the heat, stir in the rum and vanilla, and pour into mugs. Garnish if you’d like, and serve immediately!

Keto Rumchata Carbs

This recipe has 4 grams total carbs per serving. Of that, 1 gram is from fiber, and 2 are from sugar alcohols (the sweetener), so it’s 1 gram net carbs per serving!

How to Make Keto Rumchata

Full recipe follows, here is the pictorial walk-through:

Prepare your serving glass(es) with ice, and a cinnamon stick if you're garnishing with one. Note: We made a double batch, this time.

Measure all ingredients into a shaker.

Add a scoop of ice, shake well to combine.

Strain into a glass - with or without ice.

Garnish with a cinnamon stick, if desired, and serve.

Enjoy!

Keto Rumchata Recipe