Chai recipe for a crowd--but it's complicated!--see text below

Question

HELP!!!!!! I'm handling hospitality for an interfaith conference next spring; some folks asked about chai. We've PREVIOUSLY done instant coffee/tea with hot water pots---but want to shift towards serving brewed Fair Trade Certified coffee, per-bag FTC teas, and Fair Trade Certified cocoa.

(BTW, anybody got a good recipe for homemade hot cocoa mix, using baking cocoa, where you add your own dry milk and maybe some nondairy creamer? Can get a FTC cocoa mix with milk already in it, but can make homemade version cheaper & better,,,,especially in quantities this voracious bunch will probably go through.)

For the chai, well, some people want honey and others do different sweeteners (some are diabetic, some are health nuts or dieting, some want sugar) .....and don't even ASK about the creamer/alternative choice problems, when you're dealing with such a diverse bunch!! (Moan and grin.)

So was hoping someone who knows about chai (absolute rookie here) could provide a good recipe. Want to brew/simmer quite a lot of FTC loose-leaf tea and spices in advance at home and pour it into a really big thermos, label the contents, then let people add their own per-cup sweetener and milk/creamer as desired (and re-nuke as necessary).

Our capacity to "cook" onsite is severely limited, so pre-making the chai is important. We figure that adding the "brewing" capacity of the 30-cup percolator for the real coffee is about as high as we can go, and that'll have to be in sequence after heating tea/cocoa water. (The other power in the room is tied up with the soup crockpots and microwaves; we're already using powerstrips and stretching cords.)

Can't see any "instant" teas working here....unless you can provide me with a link to a source for FAIR TRADE CERTIFIED instant tea. (And would LOVE a source for FTC instant decaf coffee, which looks to be a nightmare to find! We may be **stuck** having to serve general market decaf instant this year----sadface.)

This bunch is pretty open to trying "new, exotic, and different" stuff, as long as ingredients are listed (for allergy, health, and/or religious reasons). Matter of fact, starting to think there isn't a food that they WON'T try, and wipe out very quickly also...

Thanks a million, folks!.

Answer 1

We used to make this 'camp cocoa mix" when I was a kid:

Ingredients:

1 box (20 cup) dry milk

1 1/2 jars (16oz) coffee creamer

1 large can Nestles Quick

1 cup powdered sugar

Dir:

Mix ingredients together in a large pot or dishpan. Store in containers with tight fitting lids.

To Serve: Add 4 heaping Tbsp of cocoa mix to a cup. Add hot water and stir. Note: I buy one of the 56 oz cans of Nestles Quick and use half for each batch I make.

Camp Cocoa Mix serves/makes 25 cups mix.

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I buy all my coffee/tea from these guys:  http://www.fairtradecoffee.org/coffeelis... .  As you can see from their listings, they do carry quite a variety of their coffees in decaf.  :)

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I have never made Chai tea, so I can't be of too much help there, sorry.  :(  But I do know how to search!  :)  http://www.ellenskitchen.com/bigpots/cha...

Answer 2

Traditional Chai Concentrate

http://www.sattwa.com/order.php

and Sattwa Chai is indeed fair trade certified :)

Nescafe has started a line of ftc coffees and I know they do some instant, but I'm not sure if they do decaf instant.