bulk bug juice??

[SMT224]

I'm looking for a source to purchase powdered drink mix in packets by the case.

 

We have bug juice at all of our camping trips and at summer camp. I'm tired of purchasing the plastic containers of kool-aid or country-time lemonaid at the grocery store. It seems overly expensive and a waste of packaging materials when we dump 2-3 in our cooler every camping trip, and every other day at summer camp.

 

What do other Troops use for bug juice?

[frankpalazzi]

Do you have any kind of wholesale warehouse in your area, like Sam's Club, BJ's or Costco? If not, you may be able to order bulk quantities through Wal-Mart. (Sam's Club is their sister organization, and both are very big on Scouting!) "Dollar stores" like Dollar Tree, etc., also do this kind of thing!

 

[packsaddle]

I agree, the warehouse stores would be a source. You might also check to see if you can 'order' bulk from a friendly grocer...he might even make a donation, you never know.

[shortridge]

Your local summer camp orders tons of the stuff through Sysco or other food-service distributors every summer. The distributors don't sell to individuals, but see if you can hook up with the council and buy extra packs.

 

Or, heaven forbid, just suggest that the boys drink ordinary plain boring water.

 

Edited to add: I also found some disgusting looking stuff online called "Sqwincher." You can get one case for $108.67, and it yields 80 gallons. Order more cases, and the cost goes down. http://www.hydrationdepot.com/Sqwincher-Lemon-Lime-Powder-Pack-5-gal.html Other online searches for "powder drink mix" or similar strings may get you better results.(This message has been edited by shortridge)

[T2Eagle]

I usually can't stand the stuff, but the scouts love it, and there are some times when the well water we're drinking can stand some improvement, so we buy bottles of a liguid concentrate from a restaurant supply company called Gordon Food Service (GFS). I think the concentrate is used in "juice" machines in cafeterias and the buffet and cafeteria style family restaurants.

 

If you can't find that particular company in your area I would think other restaurant suppliers would have similar fare.

[trainerlady]

My husband's company goes through thousands of cases of Sqwincher each year (he works in a steel mill turning liquid steel into slabs). They use the individual liquid concentrate envelopes, pre-mix ready to serves, and powdered Nutri Sweet for the diabetic staff memebers. Here are his comments on Sqwincher.

 

Sugar content is very high in the regular products, Nutri Sweet stuff tastes awful. Orange is accepatable, citrus is acceptable, fruit punch is acceptable. He says if you really want to have fun with your troop use the grape flavor. It turns your poop an amazing shade of neon green, something about the dye used to make it purple.

 

He also says a great treat is to use the concentrate packets to make snowcones with crushed ice.

 

But given his choice he'll take the Gatorade everytime when it is available.

 

If you want Gatorade try ordering directly from them. They have some great deals in the late summer/early fall (football season). You can get large quantity powder packs relatively cheaply. Some of their packages even come with coolers. If they won't sell directly to a Scout troop ask your local high school's Certified Athletic Trainer if they can order for you. Powerade does the same thing.

[Scoutfish]

Neon grean poop? I wish I could see the mom's feaking out after this happens!

 

WE buy water. Plain bottled water from the local grocery store for them to drink during the day.

 

For meals, we mix the 5 gallon packs of pink lemonaid and also make a 5 gallon container of sweet tea.

 

Alot of parents will buy the boxes of individual mixer packs ( for 20oz bottles) so they can give the boys the exact flavor they want.

 

Our pack has talked about buy a case of this and just let the scouts choose their own flavor and mix it themselves so that we don't have to make 5 gallons at a time and have to clean a sticky cooler out later on.

[Basementdweller]

We do not allow or significantly discourage disposable water bottles on campouts and outings. So a group of 100 people how many disposable water bottles in a day or couple of days......

 

I am not forcin the Nalgene bottles, I think they are a waste, a pound a piece........I use or reuse gatoraide bottles......free the ultimate dirt bagger in me.

 

We catch the kool aid on sale with coupons we can get it for 50 cents per two and a half gallons. We stock up during the winter and the sales are on.

[packsaddle]

Basement, I'm with you on the plastic bottle thing. I don't even own one of those Nalgene abominations. I just save a discarded plastic drink bottle (like Gatorade) and wash and reuse it. The narrow-mouth bottles can be cut to use as funnels and I save certain ones from the bins to collect water samples for teaching lab. Those bottles are practically indestructible and it really irks me to see them, knowing the waste they represent.

[Tampa Turtle]

Our Troop adult cook has bought cases of Domin-aide from Domino Sugar (I might have the spelling wrong) from a Restaurant supply house. He is a smart shopper and likes to buy in bulk.

 

We also buys bacon in 15 pound boxes. It is very exciting for all but our cardiologists.

[lrsap]

Being small at the moment, our boys in our new troop came up with a solution that takes the communal bug juice out of the equation. The guys love the Mio flavors, liquid alternatives to individual flavor packs. They are small, so they are easy to carry individually. They come in multiple flavors so the guys pick up what they like before the outing. And since they are concentrated, one will last them the weekend or more.

 

The sharing between boys who just started camping together ("Hey man, try this mango flavor", "That's good, try this fruit punch") was an unintended benefit.

[Stosh]

Jack 'em up with sugar and head 'em on out! Sounds like a Camporee theme.

 

I normally just rely on water, but when I do reenacting wearing a heavy wool uniform in the middle of summer, I do rely on powdered Gatorade to bounce me back faster than just water. I don't, however, use the plastic bottles (LNT) and burning them in the fire isn't a feasible option due to the toxic fumes of burning plastic.

 

It doesn't take much more than a cup to get me back on my feet, but the sugar rush of drinking this stuff the whole weekend is beyond my tolerance level.

 

Stosh

[shortridge]

Why would you need to burn plastic bottles in the campfire? Why not just pack them out?(This message has been edited by shortridge)

[Stosh]

I don't want to pack in full bottles, nor do I want to pack out the garbage, thus the powdered Gatorade is my preference.

 

If I'm doing serious backpacking, I repackage everything, leaving as much packaging at home. Anything in plastic is transferred over to wax-paper/paper so it can be burned and not packed out. Large zip-lock bags keeps everything dry. When I'm done the only thing I have to pack out is the zip-lock bags.

 

As a Civil War reenactor, I learned to roll blank paper cartridges with gunpowder to use on the field during the battle. Well, take that one step further, roll wax paper and fill with Gatorade and you have a quick one cup serving. Individual oatmeal, cream of wheat, instant potatoes, etc. also do well in these "cartridges". A bit of water and you're good to go. Toss everything in the fire when you're done. One could experiment with different sized dowels to make packaging a bit bigger than the .5" diameter CW round. A 1" dowel would be about as big as I would want to go and keep the integrity of the packaging.

 

Stosh(This message has been edited by jblake47)