If You Want Quality Chocolate Milk, Avoid Buying This Nostalgic Brand At All Costs

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No matter your age, sometimes you just have to have a cold glass of chocolate milk. It's the rare beverage that's both decadent and refreshing, so it can quench your thirst and cravings at the same time. To sort through all of the different options on the shelf, Chowhound ranked 16 chocolate milk brands from worst to best. If you want truly quality chocolate milk, you should make sure to steer clear of Yoo-hoo.

To all the fans of this iconic brand, sorry, but compared to the other choices in the ranking, Yoo-hoo was found to be weirdly chalky on the tongue and left a strange aftertaste. Even the flavors of the drink were off, overly saccharine with just a hint of chocolate flavor. Finally, the drink didn't even look appetizing. It was pale and watery. Since its main ingredient is water, the lack of a rich, milky flavor makes sense. Yoo-hoo's other top ingredients are high fructose corn syrup and whey, and it only contains less than 2% cocoa. Enough said.

For all those on the hunt for a high-quality chocolate milk, Yoo-hoo is probably not for you. For one thing, the flavored beverage can't even be classified as chocolate milk. It's actually a "chocolate drink." The distinction between the two is obvious after looking at Yoo-hoo's ingredients. Yoo-hoo contains no actual milk. Instead, it's made of water, sugar, and a byproduct of milk called whey. (For reference, the top three ingredients in the best chocolate milk on our list — Promised Land Midnight Chocolate Milk — are milk, sugar, and cocoa.) 

So, Yoo-hoo is a drink that happens to contain chocolate, but it's not chocolate milk. That makes Yoo-hoo a great choice for those who want a sweet chocolate drink without all the creaminess of a milk product. (Or, for all those who want another taste of the iconic childhood drink they grew up on.) 

If you're stuck with a box or bottle of Yoo-hoo you don't want to drink straight, consider adding it to one of the cocktails every chocolate lover should know about, like a Brandy Alexander or a chocolate martini. (You can also make nonalcoholic versions.) Yoo-hoo's notes of chocolate and sugar would mesh easily with these drinks, enhancing the ingredients already there without adding an excess of creaminess. Or, take a page from John deBary's book, "Saved by the Bellini & Other 90s-Inspired Cocktails," and mix Yoo-hoo with herbaceous, anise-flavored absinthe.