Dorothy Lane Market Chocolate Milk

Excellently warm and buttery with a bright cocoa presence that is somehow both supported by and supporting the cream-- it just works well together. From first sip to the very last, it's consistently rewarding and should satisfy anyone's creamline chocolate milk craving with relative facility and grace.

Swallow Hill Jersey Dairy Chocolate Milk

An endlessly interesting, sharp maltiness is the standout flavor that is both unique and brilliantly executed-- thanks in part to its creamline, Jersey base that feels absolutely perfect on the palate (and wherever else you might choose to put it..). Fans of malt, take notice-- this might be as good as it gets in drinkable form.

Snowville Creamery Low Fat A2 Chocolate Milk

Intriguing combination of thin, undersweet, and strongly chocolaty, in a mature sense. It drinks easily, and is very enjoyable despite the obvious lack of a cream presence. It isn't watery, but feels that way physically, but ultimately does more with less-- I'm happy to make my way through a half gallon of this on most days.

Rebel Creamery Chocolate Cream Milk

Very unique combination-- a thick, creamy body with understated, but twangy non-sugar sweetness. Cocoa is hard to locate and takes a back seat to the sweetener and relatively prominent cooked milk flavor. The aftertaste leaves an unsatisfying coating in the mouth, but for just 1g sugar, it sort of feels like a 'win.'

Six Star Clean Protein Shake Gourmet Chocolate Milk

Somehow manages to avoid 'face-twisting' territory. The texture is chalky, drying, and heavy, while the flavor is best described as faux-sweetly metallic. You could do a lot worse in this category, but drinking this for pleasure would be an exercise in self-loathing. If you need 32g of protein with minimal caloric baggage, have at it, but don't expect to like it.

Alani Nutrition Fit Shake Chocolate

You won't believe that this doesn't contain 'coconut' flavor in some capacity. It's an odd flavor, completely devoid of chocolate, but surprisingly pleasant given the low expectations. It drinks a little lighter than its peers, but still has a drying chalkiness that seems to be unavoidable in this tranche. Points for uniqueness and wince-free potability.

PediaSure Chocolate Shake

As a closet Ensure apologist (don't tell anyone) this is largely similar in texture and flavor to its grown-up (elderly?) counterpart. There's a definite 'vitamin-y' quality to the flavor, but the sweet-salty balance is decent and there's enough fat content to usher each sip toward a satisfying conclusion provided your expectations are adequately tempered.

Miller's Bio Farm Raw Chocolate Milk

Paralyzingly brilliant (low) viscosity to (high) creaminess factor-- it drinks like a dream, disperses perfectly, and carries a grassy character throughout that pays respectful homage to its pastoral origins. The cocoa flavor is present more so in the latter third of the sip, and then exists gracefully to a stronger, more durable buttery cream presence that continues to gild your inner oral cavity with warmth. Shake it early and often, as the cocoa settles quickly, and rest assured the connection to your food may never have been so intimate and direct.

Countryside Creamery Chocolate Milk

Fantastic combination of buttery cream with a grassy homage, and a favorable cocoa-to-sweetness ratio-- this drinks phenomenally well and just 'feels right.' There's a solid, flavorful heft with everything you want in a chocolate milk and nothing you don't.

Siips Chocolate Milk

A pleasant surprise for a canned, (partially) stevia-sweetened chocolate milk that drinks quickly, albeit a tad unnaturally. It's lightly cocoa flavored, undersweet, and fairly chalky given its thin viscosity. There's a lasting aftertaste that has a sharpness to it, but all in all, outperformed (low) expectations.

Yay! Lowfat Chocolate Milk

Overly thick and chalky with an ok cocoa hit that can't quite cover the cooked milk flavor. Despite its gorgeous dark brown visage, there's not much more to enjoy unless you've got a serious penchant for soulless, stabilizer-riddled dairy.

Fairlife Protein Chocolate Milk

Lead-like dull flavor, with no semblance of what makes chocolate milk enjoyable-- some sweetness, cocoa, creaminess, etc-- none of those are remotely represented here. There's a mineral-esque, clinical, hold-your-nose-and-take-your-medicine quality to the 'flavor', and an egregiously chalky and drying finish that, as far as I can tell, is an effort to curb that pre-vomit salivation.

Legacy Dairy Chocolate Milk

Chocolaty and sweet upfront, with a masterfully grassy cream flavor on the back end (my favorite part). It's a satisfying experience not often achieved in chocolate milk, and when it's pulled off to perfection, each sip feels like a tiny little gift-- paving the invisible road from lips to soul with buttery Jersey cream.

Best Choice Whole Chocolate Milk

Smooth and evenly creamy texture ultimately leaves you wanting more-- not so much more in terms of additional servings, but more in terms of more cocoa presence and dimension to the flavor. It's perfectly competent, and does not suffer the same pitfalls of other high fructose corn syrup containing chocolate milks. It's relatively inexpensive, and paints within its expectations.

Zeal Grass Milk Creamery Chocolate Milk (2021)

Densely drinkable fully-burdened with chocolate (first) and malt (second)-- a truly unique treat that concludes with a confidently creamy sustain and mild honey afterglow. The flavors cooperate rather than compete, and result in and indulgence you've not likely experienced before. And if you have, you'll want to do it all over again.

Dean's Dutch Chocolate Milk

Pleasantly sweet cocoa flavor upfront that provides a nice initial jolt but fades rather quickly, as the aftertaste retains more of the sweetness and less of the chocolate. It's significantly more enjoyable than its 1% lowfat counterpart which lacks dimension. In summary, it tastes good in a vacuum and sits comfortably among the low-ish tier of whole chocolate milks.

Dean's Lowfat Dutch Chocolate Milk

Dead average on so many levels-- certainly identifiable as chocolate milk but aside from a slightly drying finish, there's not much else to point out. It is what you think it is, and if uninspired chocolate milk is your thing, give this your full attention.

Glucerna Shake Rich Chocolate

Chalky and metallic, with a lasting vitamin-y aftertaste. It's fairly thin and has a surprising salty quality which works to its advantage. I've had much worse in this category, but this drinks like a junior varsity port of Ensure. Not recommended for recreational use.

Shamrock Farms Swirled Chocolate & Coconut Milk

Smoothly subtle flavor that starts mildly malty and ends with a coconutty cameo which fades in gracefully and fades out before you're ready for the exit. It's a very unique flavor combination, and pulled off fairly deftly, though it leaves you wanting a bit more punch. Texture-wise, it finishes with a drying, astringent quality easily remedied by taking another sip...that is, until there's no more left.