Chomo Research

I like chocolate. I like milk. I like the two together sometimes ("Let us celebrate our agreement with the adding of chocolate to milk"). However, chocolate milk is hard to come by in Japan. 'Normal' tasting milk in general is difficult to find (it just tastes different over here). I have purchased warm cocoa from a vending machine before, but would I be able to find a refrigerated version that didn't taste so watery? This weekend I stumbled onto a liquor/convenience store in Shimokitazawa that sold a particular brand of chocolate milk that I had never seen in any other store before. I also found a small tetra-pak drink made by Hershey's at the local Seiyu. Let's see how they compared in the taste test:


Drink Name: Cocoa
Maker: Hershey's
Price: 69 yen
Size: 220ml
Container format: Slim tetra-pak with plastic straw
Advertised features or distinguishable characteristics: None, though the picture on the front has chocolate milk with an ice cube in it. Gross.
Taste: Pretty watery, with a powdery-cocoa texture. Very sweet taste, almost like milk tea. Similar taste and consistency with the hot cocoa purchased from vending machine.


Drink Name: Milk Chocolate Drink
Maker: Sujahta
Price: 178 yen
Size: 1000ml
Container format: Standard 1-litre carton with plastic spout and flip-off cap
Advertised features or distinguishable characteristics:10mg of GABA, 60mg of Polyphenol, and 1.2mg of Vitamin E. Picture on the front is a chocolate bar pouring itself into a cup. Looks to have potential.
Taste: More of a thin chocolate liquid than a milk (akin to the difference between 'orange drink' and 'orange juice'). Also watery-tasting. Strong dark chocolate-flavored aftertaste.

Verdict: Japanese don't know good chomo.