Strong cocoa flavor packed into a thinner-than-expected base that had only the slightest hint of wateriness, but you’d hardly notice if you were drinking this by itself (rather than side-by-side with 4 other similar products). Very well executed.
Meiji Zavas Milk Protein Cocoa
Part fruity, part rummy, part gamey, all nasty.
Van Houten Cocoa (can)
Unnatural across the board-- from the moment it slithers out of the can to the moment your pharynx begrudgingly allows it to cascade down your throat— it feels wrong. It's not the worst thing I’ve ever tasted or anything like that, just quite a step down from the fresh version.
Moriyama Ice Cocoa
Chalky, but super chocolaty and rich. The cocoa taste feels authentic and the second sip you take will be smaller than the first because the flavor is dense and you will want to mete out your sips to make 180mL last as long as possible.
Morinaga Cocoa Beverage
Sweet and somewhat chocolaty, but severely held back by its watery base. Substitute some cream in there and it would make a world of difference.
7-Eleven Premium Cocoa Milk
An explosion of flavor that you won’t want to end. It’s well-proportioned, very creamy and chocolaty, and the cocoa flavor is true to what you’d hope it would be. I want to put this in a vial and wear it around my neck.
Purmil Ghana Choco Milk (225mL)
As with the other Purmil Ghana branded items, it’s so bland you want to think that it's watery, yet it isn’t.
Jetty Chocolate Taste
Not as bad as I expected— but still not something worth drinking. I was expecting strong, bad flavor, and to my surprise it wasn’t strong.
No Brand Good Milk Chocolate
Nicely drinkable with only a mild rummy-ness to the chocolate flavor which is otherwise fine.
Paldo Chocolate Drink
Disgusting texture, flavor, and appearance. On the plus side, I’ve only seen it in 1 store of the ~100 visited in Seoul. At least the city has taste.
Dongwon Milk Factory Cocoa (300mL)
Same fruity nonsense as the version I tried earlier— the nutritional info was a little different but the taste was not.
Lotte Papico Chocolate
Probably would be pretty good if it had half the sugar. It’s way too sweet, which unfortunately overpowers the other attributes that deserve much more share of the limelight.
Denmark Milk Pick Me Choco Milk
Thick, starchy, grainy, and an odd choice for cocoa flavor. It does have strong salty kick at the end which was a welcome surprise, but all things considered it tastes and feels artificial and inauthentic.
Select 7 Chocolate Milk
Pretty straight-down-the-middle in most respects— has a similar flavor to the private label, big gallon jug chocolate milks that we all grew up on.
Purmil Ghana Choco Milk (UHT)
Disturbingly bland-- definitely delivers on the “mild taste” claim but there's no “richness of cacao.”
Binggrae Kakao Friends Chocolate Milk
Easily drinkable but the chocolate piece is much more towards the candy end of the spectrum than the cocoa end. There's also a hint of fruity aftertaste, just barely.
Namyang My Milk Chocolate
Fairly bland, but nicely proportioned. Competent at not trying to do too much.
Lotte Choice L Chocolate Milk
Smooth as can be, yet creamy and enjoyably flavorful. It won't overpower you, but there's a mild sophistication to the experience.
Binggrae Chocolette
So thin and smooth that you expect a watery quality-- but it's not there— instead it delivers a solid chocolate experience with minimal baggage.
Binggrae Kakao Friends Original Chocolate Milk (UHT)
Dark and salty—fortunately much more palatable than Marmite, but quite a unique combination going on here. The cocoa flavor is less mature than I would hope, and the thickness would benefit from being reined in a bit, but oddly, the package as a whole is fun while it lasts— which isn't long in a 180mL box.