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.
Arla Milk Goodness Chocolate
Chalky, but chocolaty and relatively focused throughout.
Anlene Chocolate
Labelling this as ‘chocolate' is a definite stretch. It tastes more like a bland latte that sat in a paper cup for 48 hours. Sadly, I’ve had that experience, and am forced to relive it here.
Dutch Maid Chocolate Milk
Strong cocoa flavor in a thin, and slightly under-creamy (considering the fat content) medium. It satisfies your chocolate craving in a pinch, but comes up a bit short on the 'milk' side of the ledger. All in all, it balances out to an average experience.
Pinkie's Farm Chocolate Milk
SUPER-chocolaty and delicious! A brilliant departure from the boxed, rehydrated standard in the Philippines. The non-homogenous nature of it does limit the smoothness— but you get the sense that each granule you feel is working overtime to deliver a cocoa punch to your senses that is hard to come by in creamy, liquid form!
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.
Selecta Low Fat Chocolate Milk
Smooth, bland, tastes of wet cardboard— the kind that had a lot of permanent marker writing on it. There’s very little depth to the flavor, and there’s nothing to hold your attention beyond the initial “I wonder what this tastes like” sip. The answer comes quickly, and you only take additional sips if you’re dying of thirst, or reviewing the product. Damn.
Nestle Milo Active Go
Salty and ferrous, as though someone poured watered-down clam chowder through a rusty gutter and boxed it up for you. The basketball player on the front of the box is blatantly exposing both armpits, perhaps a subtle harbinger of what’s inside.
DVF Dairy Farm Chocolate Water Buffalo Milk
Very unique— not only because it’s the first Kalabaw (Filipino water buffalo) milk I’ve had— but there’s a flavor to it that I've yet to experience in over 1,000 previous chocolate milks. It’s ‘spicy’— not in the traditional ‘hot’ sense, but it’s reminiscent of spices like cinnamon and perhaps tamarind (not a spice, I know) more so than chocolate. Pleasant, nonetheless, and worth a try if visiting Manila.
Selecta Moo Ener-Go
Tastes exactly how a chocolate scratch-n-sniff sticker smells. There's no salt, and a poorly simulated cocoa flavor that feels like it came from an automotive research lab. The mouthfeel isn’t bad at all, and the flavor, despite having the aforementioned characteristics, could also be worse.
Hacienda Macalauan Pure & Best Low Fat Chocolate Milk
More malty than chocolaty, and just a tad more starchy-feeling than milky, but pleasant enough to down the whole carton without regret.
Milk Magic Chocolate Milk Drink
More of a ‘light' flavor— not quite ‘bland’— but not far from it. It’s thin and feels milky upfront, but finishes more on the watery side. It exudes that ‘artificial chocolate’ flavor that reminds me of how paint thinner smells— not necessarily unpleasant, but not something your tastebuds will crave.
Gossner Foods Chocolate Milk
Hugely creamy, almost to a buttery extent— and that somehow both overshadows (in a good way) and enhances (in a good way) the remainder of the experience. Its cream-to-viscosity ratio is stellar, as you’re not overburdened with thickness, yet still rewarded with a luxurious creamy flavor.
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.
Oishi Choco Chug Rocky Road Chocolate Milk
Sweeter than its (normal) chocolate counterpart, and the ‘nutty’ aspect of Rocky Road comes off as more of an earthy note. It’s not egregious, and gets more palatable with each sip. All things considered, it's pulled off decently well, and I applaud the uniqueness, as I've not seen this flavor of chocolate milk before.
Alaska Choco!
Impressively chocolaty and under-sweet— only held back by the thick(ish), powdery/chalky texture— which is far from a deal-breaker, but rather a persistent annoyance. Nonetheless, the remainder of the drink is flavorful, creamy enough, and enjoyable enough to garner an average overall score.
Cowhead Premium Chocolate Milk
Definitely sweet and flavored— but what that ‘flavor’ is, is a bit of a mystery. It doesn’t venture confidently into the chocolate realm, but it's more of a fake-vanilla with a touch of malt.
Jack 'n Jill Cloud 9 Chocolate Milk
Decently milky, pleasantly sweet, and not harsh on the eyes— but there’s something askew. The flavor is a departure from what most would consider ‘chocolate’— and there's a twang to the back end of each sip that reminded me ever so slightly of barbecue sauce.
Zesto Choc-O Chocolate Milk
The drink has a cartoony feel that’s eerily congruent with the lasso-wielding, bi-pedal cow emblazoned on the package. Flavorwise, there's a pronounced sourness that is common with some flavorings, and the texture is unpleasantly inauthentic feeling (and looking).
F&N Daisy Chocolate Milk
More chocolaty than sweet, which I appreciate, though the grainy and cream-deficient texture drag the score just below the meniscus of mediocrity.