Competent all-purpose chocolate milk that should't feel self-conscious around more indulgent options. It’s averagely sweet, salty, chocolaty, and dons a noticeable, but relatively sheer cloak of malt. The package design and color scheme is genius.
All tagged 6.0
Arla Milk Goodness Chocolate
Chalky, but chocolaty and relatively focused throughout.
Magnolia Chocolait
Excellent texture and a surprisingly clean finish, making it easy to want more. The sweetness is appropriate, and there’s no funky aftertaste or curious residue left in the mouth afterward. It’s not obvious that it’s rehydrated.
Oishi Choco Chug Chocolate Milk
On the thick side for a boxed drink, but remarkably well balanced with a flavor that tastes natural and pairs well with the sweetness. Better than most other reconstituted UHT drinks I’ve had.
Hokkaido Chocolate Milk
It looks like vanilla (or regular) milk, and tastes like vanilla milk— despite clearly being labeled as a ‘chocolate milk beverage.’ There’s zero chocolate, or even an attempt to make it look or taste chocolaty. That said, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s super creamy, not hampered by thickeners or starchiness, and the flavor, though devoid of chocolate, is rather agreeable.
F&N Magnolia Chocolate Milk
It's clearly a malt rather than chocolate focus— executed rather tastefully, I might add. It takes one sip to get used to it, and by the third, you’re looking forward to several more.
Fresh Delight Family Mart Dark Cocoa
Creamy and chocolaty but would benefit immensely from a higher dose of salt. It’s pleasantly undersweet, on the chalky side, but delivers its cocoa flavor unapologetically.
Kuang Chuan Dairy Chocolate Milk
Prominently chocolaty— and has just a hint of hazelnut essence (not sure if actually contains any)— it’s rather rich considering the fairly pedestrian 65 calories / 1.4g fat per 100mL it has to work with. The sweetness is restrained quite a bit, allowing its cocoa to stand tall— they've done well here.
Kirkland Signature Organic Chocolate Milk
Slight powdery chocolate quality that leaves some grainy residue when it's all said and done, but it’s a bit creamier and more chocolaty than average. Not bad for a highly portable, financially reasonable organic chocolate milk.
Natural By Nature Organic Chocolate Milk
Excellent creamy-yet-not-overly-thick texture and feel, but nearly flavorless otherwise. Chocolate flavor is very hard to locate, and not much sweetness, salt, or malt to fill in the dead space. It’s still enjoyable due to the cream, but not nearly what it could be. I could convince myself that there was a tiny bit of anise flavor as well (which I’m sure there isn’t).
Chick-fil-A Low Fat Chocolate Milk
Sports a cooked milk / caramel flavor punch that rises above its other characteristics. It’s plenty sweet, adequately chocolaty, and should serve as a fine addition to any fried chicken order.
Prairie Farms Lowfat Chocolate Milk
Nicely salty and sweet, but the texture has a hint of ‘syrupy’ feel that is more noticeable in small sips.
Purple Cow Chocolate Milk
Creamy but otherwise bland— a light sweetness is just about all there is to enjoy aside from the cream. Under chocolaty and devoid of any other distinctive characteristics (malt, sourness, saltiness, etc.).
Best Choice Chocolate Milk
Great creamy smoothness aside, there’s a sharpish malt flavor in place of the cocoa— and normally I like a malt flavor, but this one feels a bit misplaced or underdeveloped. All else is very good, but the predominant flavor is still shrouded in mystery.
Publix Chocolate Milk
Creamy, sweet, and enjoyable, but don’t expect your chocolate ‘itch’ to get scratched.
Hope Eco-Farms Chocolate Milk from Grassfed Water-Buffalo
Thin, creamy (we cheated by using a blender, as tireless manual shaking couldn’t break up all the chunks of cream), and a prominent but slightly powdery chocolate flavor. The cream is really difficult to incorporate fully, as it becomes foamy and wants to ride atop the drink. As such, the flavor gets washed out toward the end by a watery feel. It’s unique, and not miles apart from cows milk— only the aftertaste hints at difference, be it species or the grassfed-ness.
Hershey's Double Chocolate Milk Shake
Wow— tons of flavor in every category! The thick, but very supportive base unfortunately outperforms its cocoa flavor— which is intense, but carries a boozy note that honestly tastes like it was spiked with alcohol. If this quality were less prominent (or gone altogether)— this would elevate the score significantly.
Kellogg's All-Bran Chocolate
Has a surprisingly milky look and feel, and though there’s definitely a malty-to-wheaty taste, the flavor is much better than that of say, Nestle Milo or some of the boxed Ovaltine drinks. The creaminess is very well executed also, I’m surprised and pleased with the outcome here.
Ronnybrook Farm Dairy Low Fat Chocolate Milk
Salty, chalky, and chocolaty but has a slight earthy, dare I say, approachingly dirty taste. It’s plenty creamy as well, especially for being low fat, but it does wash away faster than expected, leaving you with the salt and chalk. This may sound more negative than it is in practice— I’m nitpicking probably because my expectations were higher.
Milsani Lait Chocolaté
Good pop of flavor all around— just held back a bit by a powdery quality to the texture that remains in the mouth after each swallow. A smoother, milkier experience would make a world of difference.