re: Wanting to brew up the richest hot cocoa possible - Any recommendations?

My mom used to make a boatload of powdered hot cocoa mix every winter when she had 3 of us kids around the house.

Was cocoa powder, powdered milk, and coffee creamer, and sugar.

If wanting to add vanilla, suggest using beans in the sugar by setting aside the amount of sugar and adding beans to it for a few days/weeks before making the mix. Get a really good infusion as the sugar absorbs the moisture from the beans.

Can store the mix in any sealed container and use with boiling water anytime. I've got a decorative glass canister about half full of some I mixed couple years ago currently (don't drink much of it any more since La. only has about 3 days of real Winter annually).