Edible Sacramento Fall 2022

TASTY FINDS

North Fork Chai Co. WRITTEN BY CATHERINE ENFIELD PHOTOS BY LOU MANNA

D riving up I-80, you could easily miss North Fork Chai Co.’s café. It’s tucked into a small strip mall at the Newcastle exit, thus it is frequented mostly by locals. Here you’ll find siblings Chelsea Bruce and JoshuaHendrickson brewing up their specialty chai concentrate, North Fork Chai, after the café operation shuts down each day. If you’re wondering which enterprise came first, it’s the chai. Bruce had beenworking on a chai recipe for almost a decadewhen her brother returned from hiking the Pacific Coast Trail in 2016 and said, “Let’s start a business together.” Each of the siblings had their own experiences to bring to the table. Bruce had long been interested in food and attended the Culinary Institute of America inNapa Valley, graduating from its pastry program in 2007. “I wanted a product for later in life that I could sell, would be shelf stable (versus refrigerated), andwith less competition in the market,” Bruce says. Hendrickson had a decade of experience in specialty co“ee as a brewmaster. He had been wanting some sort of a shop but knew that the co“ee business was already too competitive. In late 2017, they launched North Fork Chai. While the name would imply proximity to the north fork of the AmericanRiver, in reality it was more about the name’s positivity. “You usually like to go north, rather than, you know, south,” Hendrickson says. “Plus, it’s outdoorsy.” “It also implies moving forward,” Bruce chimes in. What di“erentiates their chai is not only the spice blend, but also the concentration. The proprietors use the strongest and best quality spices. An example is the cardamom sourced from Guatemala.

“We’ve sent shipments of bad quality cardamom back,” Hendrickson says. “Ours is very potent; when you open a bag, the odor is so pungent it actually can make you a little nauseous.”

From left: North Fork Chai Concentrate and North Fork Coconut Chai Concentrate can be combined with milk or your favorite alternative; Sister and brother team Chelsea Bruce and Joshua Hendrickson; Front door at North Fork Chai in Newcastle

The concentration also is a big selling point. Competitor brands contain a lot of water as filler and often call for equal parts of concentrate and milk when making a chai, whereas North Fork Chai’s is one part concentrate to eight parts milk. In fact, its 16-ounce bottle makes 16 servings, while most competitors’ 32-ounce cartons only make five servings. “We’ve got it down so that it only takes one ounce of our con centrate for an eight-ounce drink,” Bruce says. “That also makes it ideal for use in cooking.” Adding products and services helps to propel the siblings for ward. In 2019, the pair opened the café, serving breakfast sand wiches, avocado toast, pastries, and beverages until 1 p.m. Mon days through Saturdays. In the afternoons, they work on brewing and bottling batches of chai as well as packaging their own spice blends, sauces, jams, and more. What’s next? “Ultimately, the future is to have a microbrewery situation with a bigger footprint,” Hendrickson says. “An industrial build ing with the active brewing and automatic bottling on one side and a small café on the other.”

North Fork Chai Co. Northforkchaico.com

10 FALL 2022

edible Sacramento