Has that signature Nesquik starchy/plasticky thickness, and an aftertaste that feels artificial. There is cocoa present, and it is more flavorful than the fat-free version, but still below average.
Hershey's 2% Reduced Fat Chocolate Milk
Solid chocolate flavor delivered through a nicely thin, creamy medium. There is a bit of grain throughout, but it does not detract from the tasty experience. Strong across the board.
Pittsford Farms Dairy Chocolate Milk
Very unique cocoa taste that borders on malty/chalky/powdery. It’s not off-putting, just different from what you might expect. There’s a bit of a grain to it as well, which reinforces the powdery quality to the chocolate taste.
Nestle Nesquik Fat Free Chocolate Milk
Unnatural thickness dominates the experience— there’s plenty of sweetness but very little else. Fairly hollow and unsatisfying.
Nestle Nesquik Double Chocolate Low Fat Chocolate Milk
Similar (over) thickness issues as with the fat free version, but much more prevalent cocoa flavor. This would benefit from the addition of salt and/or creamy notes, which are essentially non existent.
Upstate Farms Low Fat Chocolate Milk
A bit light on the cocoa flavor but everything else is there and well balanced, maybe a tad too high on the sweetness end. Very thin and smooth as well which makes the drinking experience much more pleasurable.
Hood Calorie Countdown 2% Chocolate Dairy Beverage
Tastes like you’re drinking water that sat for years in a rusty sink. The sucralose aftertaste is horrendous and makes you seriously reconsider a second sip. I took about 5, regretting each one more than the last.
Wegmans Low Fat Chocolate Milk
Sweet and salty and lacking in direct cocoa flavor. Inoffensive and very average.
Upstate Farms Intense Chocolate Milk (Low Fat)
Cloyingly sweet (to a fault) and decently creamy for a low fat version. It had a much more vanilla-like quality to me as I could not easily identify the chocolate flavor. Tastes great as a first sip due to the powerful sweetness, but quickly wears thin.
Upstate Farms Intense Chocolate Milk (Whole)
Powerfully sweet and (as advertised) intensely chocolaty— the chocolate ice cream picture on the label is an accurate representation of what you’re about to enjoy. Tons of flavor, decidedly on the sweeter side of indulgence, but rewarding nonetheless.
Natrel Reduced Fat Chocolate Milk (UHT)
A slightly more sour than sweet taste which meshes well with the strong cocoa flavor. It is quite chalky and leaves a decent bit of residue on the glass, but it manages to deliver good flavor.
Organic Valley Chocolate Low Fat Milk (UHT)
Very salty and otherwise flavorless— a far cry from what you would expect. There is a creamy presence as well but without anything else to balance against, this is an unfortunate miss.
Immergut Kakao
Watery and has a fortified taste to it— sort of ‘tinny’ or mineraly. Feels unnatural when it hits the back of the throat. It’s a less-flavorful YooHoo, and probably belongs in metal and not glass.
Baren Marke Alpenfrischer Kakao
Can't cite much improvement over the UHT version, though it seems to taste better (perhaps due to the colder temperature). Ultimately, I’d have to have them side-by-side to assess a difference. Well rounded.
Gropper Schokogeschmack
If blindfolded, most people would identify this as eggnog. Very strong noggy flavor (to an almost boozy extent), it just comes as a shock when expecting chocolate milk. It’s sweet as heck, and has tons of flavor, just in the wrong direction.
Nestle Nesquik Trinkfertig (Germany)
Decently creamy for relatively low fat, the German version is much preferred to the more southern-European Nesquiks that contain cinnamon. This tastes like a decently well-rounded chocolate milk that (blindly) I would not have associated with the Nesquik brand. The thickness feels artificial though.
Landfein Schoko Drink (Low Fat)
Nothing much registers in the front of the mouth, but you get a creamy aftertaste in the back. As you’re regretting the sip, you get a nice back-end quality that implores another sip, so here goes.. Yep, still lacking flavor.
Landfein Schoko Drink (Whole)
Adequately salty and creamy, but the cocoa flavor is hard to locate. Overall, still a drinkable and flavorful experience with a decent amount of wasted potential on the chocolate side of the ledger.
Chocomel
Reminds me of Cacaolat, it’s very flavorful and leaves an aftertaste as well as a bit of a film in the mouth. The texture is pretty grainy, but it’s for a reason— there’s a lot of taste going on here. It’s easy to want more.
Upländer Bauern Molkerei Bio Schoko Milch
Great combination of thin viscosity with a powerful creamy/milky snap. Reminds me a bit of the Demeter brand in look, feel, and taste (there is a noticeable malty component that outshines the cocoa), but different enough to distinguish itself. Very nice.