Hot cocoa bar for a dozen - how to serve?

[kitty]

I am hosting a neighborhood party this weekend with about a dozen kids ages 5-12. I am planning to do hot cocoa with lots of toppings for the kids and hope it can be pretty much self serve for all but the youngest. I'm doing Swiss Miss with water, nothing fancy. My original plan was to have hot water in a carafe and have a basket of packets but I didn't want to create that much waste. So, I bought a canister of Swiss Miss powder which says you need to mix 3 tbsp with 8 oz of water. Now I'm having visions of this getting too messy for my dining room lol.

Can I mix the Swiss Miss with the water ahead and keep it in an insulated carafe or airpot? I know it will eventually settle out if it can't easily be stirred but I'm not sure how quickly this happens. I only need it to work for a couple of hours. Has anyone done this before successfully?

[momof2]

We have done this. But we use milk and put the packets in and gently heat on the stovetop. Then, we leave it on the lowest setting during the party and use a soup server to dish it into the mugs. I would not want this in my dining room.

[waverly]

I know the Girl Scouts so hot cocoa in an insulated jug for the parties. It is their own recipe not Swiss Miss but I don’t think it would be that different.

[MDmomof2]

I make hot cocoa in a crock pot and serve it up with a ladle. That would get messy with kids so I think you should go with an insulated jug. You could also have the cups ready with 3 tbs of mix in it and then just pour in hot water for each kid.

[quesyrah]

I do a crock pot with a ladle

[ECB]

Yes - crock pot!

[meanie]

This came up last year for class parties and someone suggested heating chocolate milk.

Whatever you end up doing, maybe get some cheap trays from the dollar store for people to set their cups on while adding toppings and mixing. Spills will be caught and the trays can be quickly rinsed off when they get messy.

[UMaineTeach]

I would try the airpot type thing idea. You can pick it up a swirl it periodically. Or coffee urn dispenser with a lid you can take off to stir a couple times.

I’ve seen teachers do crockpot hot chocolate for class parties and that gets everywhere, even with an adult in charge of the ladle. The hardest part seems to be carrying the mostly full pot (because kids) to the sink to dump out. It’s not like carrying chili. Sloppy and drippy.

[nicolewi]

There is a recipe for crock pot hot cocoa--https://wishesndishes.com/creamy-crock-pot-hot-chocolate/

But I get that you just want to use the powder. I think I would just pre-measure it into cups for the kids as they go through the cocoa line (i.e. you or other adult are in charge of cocoa powder! Don't even let kids have access on their own) and let them add water and toppings. Make sure you have big cups so that they can fit toppings.

[bee20]

We put hot chocolate in a thermos/carafe all the time as kids and I still do it today for hikes or other winter adventures. Haven't noticed separation in the time that the cocoa is still hot (8 hours?). A hydroflask or similar knockoff would work for this too.

[jobae1234]

Just as a reframe, the packets come in paper envelopes within a paper box, whereas the tub is plastic, therefore the tub is more wasteful from an environmental perspective. Unless you meant financially wasteful; the tub may have been cheaper! I get that it’s already purchased so what’s done is done.

[fortnightlily]

The right answer is hire a bunch of St. Bernard dogs to run around with barrels of hot cocoa on their collars.

[gerberdaisy]

This is probably too late, but yes, mix it ahead of time! We do that for selling hot chocolate as a fundraiser, mix a whole tub in an urn and then just pour it out. Way easier and then the kids just need to worry about toppings.