the battle of the chocolate drinks

Sunday morning. The bell rings and you run out to the door. You find one thing on your doorstep and you smile. It's a bottle. It's the key to heaven. It's the key to home. It is love.

It is the great magnolia chocolate drink. Do you remember it?


Well, some time ago, a crazy dude from Magnolia thought of taking our piece of heaven away from the grocery shelves. Now we are left with wannabes who think they can take Magnolia Chocolate Drink's place in our hearts -- and yes, we are all left with sad tummies.

So who are these impostors who attempt to compete for our deep passion for good chocolate (now that the original Magnolia Chocolate Drink is no more)?


#8: Moby Chocolate Drink - P9.00 / 120ml.
The brand is more popular as a chocolate snack - the chocolate version of Cheese Curlz. I didn't like their chocolate drink as much as I liked their snack. At one point I actually considered if I was drinking spoiled milk.

#7: Anchor Chocolate Milk - P20.50 / 250ml.
It's a brand associated with butter and cow's milk, but the dairy connection doesn't automatically mean great chocolate milk. It wasn't very chocolatey, in fact, it was bland.

#6: Magnolia Chocolait - P18.40 / 250ml.
A few years ago, Magnolia re-released the legendary drink but it is now in tetra pak form. It carries the same name but does not bear the legendary chocolate taste.

#5: Anlene Chocolate - P25.25 / 250ml.
Similar to Anchor, I think Anlene should just stick to providing cow's milk (the plain type). The chocolate taste was very artificial.

#4: Selecta Moo -- P9.60 / 120ml.
This is definitely a kid's drink. The packaging and serving size is targeted for kids. The level of sweetness adds to the kiddie factor of the drink, sweetened the way kids would like their chocolate drink.

#3: Selecta Moo Choco Rocky Road -- P18.70 / 235 ml.
Selecta takes it up a notch by adding flavor to the usual chocolate drink, taking its cue from a popular ice cream flavor! Moo Choco Rocky Road combines the taste of mallows, nuts and ofcourse, chocolate! It's like melted ice cream in a tetrapak! Works wonders for me, not as much for GM though. He thinks it tastes like medicine. Well this is my review and I say it is yummy!

#2: Nestle Milo -- P17.40 / 180ml.
Ice, milk, water and Milo powder. That's how I used to have it when I was young. So now I wonder, why haven't they thought of making a ready to drink Milo before? Sure, they released Milo bars back in highschool and Milo balls (breakfast cereals) some time ago, but what took them so long to make ready to drink Milo? Well enough of the wondering, let me just do my review on it. I was expecting it to have the same or at least similar taste to how I would prepare it when in powdered form, but it didn't. Though different in taste, it passes as a good chocolate drink for me.


The best chocolate drink among 8 drinks in the ultimate chocolate taste test is....

#1: Nestle Chuckie -- P19.30 / 250 ml.
Nestle is doing a pretty good job in making chocolate drinks, bagging the top two spots on this list. Nestle Chuckie was a favorite among the three judges in this taste test, simply because it has the right taste and serving. The sweetness of chocolate and the creaminess of milk was blended perfectly to create a great chocolate milk drink. Though it could never replace the legend that is Magnolia Chocolate Drink, Chuckie may be considered as the best chocolate milk drink for now.


Needless to say, I had an upset tummy the next day (which was a working day, by the way) and underwent an unwelcome detoxification. I had to leave the office early and stayed in the comfort room for the rest of the day. And that's how the battle of the chocolate drinks ended. =)


**all chocolate drinks were bought at Cash and Carry Supermarket on March 21, 2010.