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.

River Bottom Dairy Chocolate Peanut Butter Milk

Gorgeous representation of my favorite flavor combination. Sweet and chocolaty up front, with a lasting peanut buttery burn that ages more gracefully than Helen Mirren. I'm not sure I'll be able to say the same for myself after I drink this whole bottle in an afternoon. Drinkable dessert, what more could you want?

River Bottom Dairy Cookies & Cream Milk

Noticeably more lithe than the chocolate milk, and delivers a truly accurate and not cartoonish cookies and cream flavor. It has me longing for bits of Oreo solute and the underratedly fun 'panning for gold' process of oral sieving (?). Definitely one of the best CnC versions I've reviewed, and a worthwhile extension of the River Bottom Dairy portfolio.

Riverbend Creamery Chocolate Milk

Intensely bright cocoa flavor backed by a full-bodied creamy base and sweetness that is more than up to the challenge. Knocks it out of the park for what most people would easily consider the best chocolate milk they've ever had. Parallels to melted chocolate ice cream are often made, but rarely substantiated; but in this case, it certainly applies.

River Bottom Dairy Chocolate Milk

Beefy frame, plenty sweet, and an exciting 'wild' side-- yes, chicks will dig this, but so will anyone else lucky enough to try it. It's chocolaty up front, sweet through the middle, and finishes with a wild, grassy note that ties everything together and whets your appetite for more. In a world where novelty in chocolate milk is sometimes challenging to find, this brings a dropkick of indulgence followed by a blinding ray of hope for those paying close attention.

Oberweis Dairy Lactose Free Chocolate Milk

I'm genuinely embarrassed by my low expectations-- this is an outstanding port of the traditional Oberweis 2% chocolate milk. Particularly impressive is the no-sugar-added (allulose/stevia) finesse, executed so deftly that you have to try hard to notice the difference. For all the times I've been beat mercilessly over the head by the Stevia or Monk Fruit sledgehammer-- I had assumed that using these ingredients were a lost cause; an automatic palate destroyer. Not anymore. Oberweis figured out just the right levels to deliver a relatively low calorie, low sugar, high caliber chocolate milk experience worthy of your time, especially for those seeking these 'better for you' or lactose free features. It can be done. They cracked the code. I like this stuff.

Slate Dark Chocolate Milk

Much flatter than its lighter counterpart, the sledgehammer of fake sweetness is significantly mitigated here-- allowing for some actual cocoa flavor to poke through. There's still an issue with the chalky / drying texture here but that's not terribly uncommon among protein-fortified drinks. A clear winner among the Slate portfolio, but still won't compare favorably to even the most average of chocolate milks.

Slate Chocolate Milk

Overpowering faux take-your-medicine-esque sweetness with little relief to follow. You're left with an unnatural aftertaste and drying residue-- no semblance of chocolate or milk to be found. The label recommends you to 'shamelessly chug away'-- and I agree, as you'll want to limit the amount of tastebud contact as best you can.