The Best Household Chocolate Milk Brands and Methods
It’s hard not to love chocolate milk. Even for those of us who have never understood the appeal of a tall glass of plain white milk, there’s something about the creamy, rich sweetness of chocolate milk that scratches a deep-seated itch. To many, it tastes like childhood.
Now that you’re an adult, you can have as much chocolate milk as you want. And even if your waistline doesn’t agree, you may want to find the best brand out there for your kids. Whatever the reason, there are plenty of chocolate milk brands and methods to choose from. We’ll try to give you some of the best in the business here today.
Pre-Mixed Grocery Store Brands
The easiest way to buy chocolate milk is pre-mixed, in the bottle. Any grocery store large enough to have a dairy aisle will sell at least a couple of varieties. To our taste buds, Prairie Farms and Promised Land both have the perfect amount of chocolate (though we’ve even been known to go with Nesquik or Hershey’s in a pinch). The key here seems to be fat content and chocolate quality. Any fat content lower than 2% just doesn’t have the delectable flavor and mouthfeel you’re looking for. Too many cheap sweeteners (beware corn syrup) tend to leave you feeling yucky. The perfect solution (in this writer’s opinion) is whole organic milk with real chocolate and natural sugar sweetener. It may not be the healthiest beverage you could guzzle, but we’re talking about chocolate milk here. You have to take the fat with the flavor.
Syrups
You really can’t go wrong with Hershey’s chocolate syrup mixed into a milk of your choice. Maybe it’s because the Hershey’s brand has been so closely associated with chocolate flavor since our collective infancy, but it produces a chocolate milk that “just tastes right.” Not all will agree, but there are plenty of chocolate syrup alternatives, including organics. The key here seems to be dosing your milk with enough chocolate to really pack a punch. It can be unnerving to see the sheer volume of syrup required to make the perfect blend, but go with your tongue on this one. Again, we drink chocolate milk because it’s delicious, not because it’s a health tonic.
The DIY Approach
When we get into the DIY chocolate milk options, you’ll find you’re able to craft the perfect milk for your diet and palette. Want to make your chocolate milk with oat milk? Want to melt down authentic Oaxacan chocolate until you’ve made a sweet, spicy syrup all your own? The possibilities are truly endless. Making DIY chocolate milk may take a little extra time, but this is the best option for those who want quality and nuance of flavor above all else. Start with milk you trust (local, whole, and organic if possible!). Next, select a high quality dry chocolate, in ground cocoa or bar form. Now make a syrup by mixing a natural sweetener with a little bit of water, then melting the chocolate into the mix until the resulting syrup fits your taste. Make sure it’s really chocolatey because when you blend it with dairy, that flavor has to stand up to the milk.
All of this writing has this writer in the mood for a glass of chocolate milk. Fortunately, (no foolin’) there is a bottle of syrup and a carton of almond milk in the refrigerator. Perhaps you can say the same. Even if you have to run to the market, make time for chocolate milk in your near future. Whether it’s been hours or years since your last glass, it’ll bring a deep satisfaction that only creamy cocoa can.
For many of us, the single most important car accessory is the one we jam into the old, disused CD slot. Our cell phone car mounts help our older vehicles interface with our 2019 lives. Even though these plastic contraptions cost less than the salad bar at Ruby Tuesday’s, they’re pretty much indispensable for any drive longer than 20 minutes. Whether you use yours for tunes, GPS, or making illegal texts, almost every driver needs a cell phone car mount.
The question is: Which cell phone car mount is the best? The market is flooded, and cheap knockoffs abound. We’ll do our best to separate the wheat from the chaff in the product review to come.
BE Universal Smartphone Car Mount - This high quality car mount works with vents, and vertical ones at that. Vertical vents are one of the most underserved car alignments, at least by car mount manufacturers. Those with round vents will be out of luck, but if you’re in this select demographic, you’ll enjoy the quality of this BE unit. It grips tight without requiring excessive turning of the knob, and has enough cushion to adapt to slight variation of shape. At less than $10, you really can’t go wrong.
Koomus CD-Air Car Mount - Hey, you! Yes you, over there in the 2004 Scion XB. Don’t worry, we’ve got a car mount for you and your obsolete CD player. This Koomus unit is large enough for all major models of smartphone, even those housed in those clunky protective cases. It’s so large that some users might find it impedes access to various controls, but this won’t be a problem for everybody. It holds tight with minimal fiddling, and you can even clamp your phone in its grasp with only one hand.
iOttie One Touch Mount - This vent mount features lush 360 viewing, so you can always get that perfect angle no matter where you are in the vehicle. At $20-$25, it’s on the pricier end of our consideration, but we’ve found no defects or performance issues. Of course, only time will tell when it comes to single use devices like these, but we are proud to include iOttie in this top 5.
Kenu Airframe - This larger unit is built for smartphones of all types, and tablets. If you want to mount your freakin’ iPad to your car’s air conditioner, you can do so with Kenu, and for less than $20 we might add. This unit is simply too big for smaller phones, but most current iPhone and Apple models will be just fine. What’s more, if you have a device that’s prone to overheating (particularly in you’re driving in the hot summer weather), you may find that using an air conditioning vent mount will keep its temperature in the usable range.
Square Jellyfish Jelly Grip - This is another excellent vent car mount for everyone but you unfortunates with round air vents. The Jellyfish Jelly grip will accommodate just about any other vent shape. This unit is great for larger devices; any phone up to 6 inches wide will do (and that would be quite the phone). You’ll find yourself able to “slide” your phone in and out, if you wish, but do be conscious that any buttons located on the side may be pressed when dismounting in this fashion.
Car mounts for cell phones are one of the modern essentials. For many of us, there’s no better bang for your buck than a $15 plastic contraption that turns your old Toyota into a smart car. Choose the right car mount for you, and you’ll feel like you’re driving in 2019, no matter what kind of vehicle you have.
