Fairlife Smart Snacks Rich Chocolate

The sweeteners seem to be in competition and ultimately dominate the experience. A honey-like note kicks off the sip, but by the end, you have a saliva-inducing essence plaguing your tongue. In the interim, there’s too much chalk and not enough cocoa to salvage a respectable score.

Manning Hill Farm Chocolate Milk

Cream and malt are decidedly the stars of the show here, and there’s little else to detract from that experience. It looks and drinks beautifully, exuding its indulgence via slow-burning cream rather than a sweet/chocolaty punch. The aftertaste is warm and reflective, and you drink more to maintain that sentiment rather than for another ‘hit’.

Braum's Chocolate Milk

Wow- refreshingly unique combination of cocoa flavor, textural density, and reigned-in sweetness that makes each mouthful one of satisfaction and intrigue. There’s also a unique marshmallow-esque flavor that comes through. Lovers of a thicker (and less sweet) chocolate milk profile will extol the virtues of Braum’s Chocolate Milk for years to come.

Ozark Mountain Creamery Chocolate Milk

Indulgently creamy with a unique cocoa profile that reminds me of Kalona Super Natural. There’s a hearty (I hate that word) texture that feels genuine— rich, dense cream and fine (but feel-able) cocoa particulates remind you that you’re drinking something real.

Memory Lane Dairy Chocolate Milk

Deliciously mild grass-fed flavor doesn’t usurp attention way from the cocoa but remains a solid supporting role throughout the experience. The cream also does its job astoundingly well, serving up a substantial, indulgent drink that nails the paradigm of chocolate milk we know and love.

Edgewood Creamery Chocolate Milk

Infinitely creamy, delectably malty, and a sleek, velvety viscosity that won’t clog one’s esophagus (despite my best efforts). It’s got just the right amount of wildness, and a buttery base that sustains its flavor well into the post-sip introspection stage.

Central Dairy Chocolate Milk

The flavor balance is skewed more towards ‘sweet’ than ‘chocolate’— a trope often seen in lower-fat chocolate milks. Whole milk shouldn’t need this sort of ‘band-aid’— don’t get me wrong, it still tastes good, but could be a lot better with more cocoa and less sugar.