Best Chocolate Almond Milk Brands: Savour Its Rich Chocolate Flavour

Veganism and dairy-free diets have taken the steering wheel. With more people gaining awareness about vegan diets, the need for dairy-free beverages and snacking options has increased by a huge margin. Supplying to this demand are plant based ‘milks’. 

Almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk and so much more. One of the most loved and versatile available nut-milks in urban India is almond milk. Almond milk comes in sweetened, unsweetened and flavored variants. 

We picked three popular brands of chocolate flavored almond milk or almond beverages in India. The almond content, chocolate flavor, and consistency were our prime parameters. Keeping those in mind, we chose So Good Almond Drink as the best chocolate almond milk brands in India. It has the most delicious chocolate flavor and a well-rounded sweetness.

Chocolate flavored almond milk makes for a satisfying snack for vegans, lactose intolerant people or those who are avoiding dairy.

Here is all that you need to know about our review of the chocolate almond milk.

1. Available Sizes

Chocolate flavored almond milk comes in two sizes – 

• 200 ml
• 1 litre

2. Packaging

The packaging depends on the size of the beverage as well – 

• Single use tetra packs (200 ml)
• Plastic bottles (200 ml)
• Resealable tetra packs with plastic cap (1 L)

3. Shelf Life

The shelf life of an unopened pack of chocolate flavored almond milk is between 9-12 months. Once opened the shelf life of the beverage is short. It is best to consume within the mentioned time frame and keep it refrigerated.

4. Price Range

Almond milk is a premium product and is not priced anywhere near regular milk. On an average, a 1 Liter carton of flavored almond milk is priced between Rs 250/- and Rs 350/-. The price difference is due to the variation in almond content which is different in every brand. 

Almond milk has a niche audience. Keeping the target users in mind, we designed the review process and parameters.

Our review process was a fairly simple one and divided into two phases.

Phase 1 included visual inspection. In this we checked for color, consistency, the list of ingredients and nutritional information.

Phase 2 was our taste test. This was further divided into two. Our team was sectioned into two groups. One group tasted the chocolate almond beverages blind, and one tasted them with the knowledge of the brands.

This helped us reach a unanimous decision without bias.

1. Ingredients

The main ingredients that form homemade almond milk are almonds and water. We checked all the labels for their almond percentage. What goes in the making of the chocolate flavored almond milk? In which form is the chocolate added? Is the flavor natural or artificial? Any preservatives and stabilisers? 

2. Flavor

Almonds inherently have a mild nutty flavor which reduces a tad bit when turned into ‘milk’.

Can we taste the mild nuttiness of the almonds? Is it fresh? How strong and intense is the chocolate flavoring? Does it taste natural? Any aftertaste? Could we detect any other essence? How is the sweetness – too much or too low? 

3. Consistency

Homemade almond milk resembles dairy-based milk when it comes to consistency. It may be thicker or thinner depending on the ratio of water and almonds. 

How thick or thin is the almond milk? Does it feel watered down or does it have a creamy thickness?

4. Nutritional Information

When we look at calories in a plant based beverage like almond milk, the amount of calories doesn’t hold as much weightage as the quality of calories. 

Calories and sugar content were two nutritive aspects that we took under account for this review. How many calories and sugar does one serving provide? Where are they coming from?

5. Price

Is the brand priced competitively?

Here is a tabular comparison of all the brands of chocolate flavored almond milk for their price, net volume, calories, shelf life and ingredients.

So Good Almond Beverage (Chocolate) comes in a beige colored tetra pack. We ordered the 1 Litre pack that is priced at Rs 275/-.

The color of the beverage is the darkest chocolate brown in comparison to the other two. Consistency wise, this is thin but doesn’t feel watery. Coming to the flavor. The chocolate flavor is prominent and well-rounded. It doesn’t feel artificial, overwhelming or bitter. The sweetness of the chocolate almond milk is medium-low.

Even though this beverage had the least amount of almonds, it was the tastiest one. To sum it up, it tasted the most like fresh almonds with a mild nuttiness.

Earlier we also reviewed the So Good Vanilla Flavor.

Features

• A 1 litre tetra pack is priced at Rs 275/-.
• Shelf life – 12 months
• The almond content is 3%.
• Cocoa content is 1%.
• Ingredients – Water, Sugar, Almond paste (3%), Cocoa powder (1%), Mineral premix (0.3%), Emulsifier (INS 322), Stabilizer (INS 418), Salt, Acidity regulator (INS 500 ii) and a vitamin premix (0.01%)
• A single serve is 200 ml which provides 89 Kcal of energy and 12.6 grams of sugar.

Likes

• We liked the nutty flavor of the almond milk.
• The chocolate flavor is delicious. 
• We liked the fact that this is not overly sweetened.
• The consistency is thin but not watery.

Best Suited For

If you are a vegan, or are looking for dairy-free options in the beverage section, the So Good Almond Milk (Chocolate) is a delicious choice.

Sofit Almond Milk has the thickest consistency and the lightest brown color. This felt the heaviest on our stomach. Overall, this beverage tastes very almond-like but not the fresh, sweet and nutty almonds we eat. We are talking about the extract/oil variety which lends a certain bitterness. The aftertaste of almond oil type essence lowered the overall experience.

Features

• A 200 ml tetra pack is priced at Rs 95/-.
• Shelf life – 365 days from manufacture
• The almond content is 5%.
• Cocoa content is 0.8%.
• Ingredients – Purified water, Sugar, Almond paste (5%), Soya protein isolate (2%), Oligofructose (Dietary fiber 1.5%), Cocoa solids (0.8%), Emuslifier (460(ii), 466, 471), Mineral (Tricalcium phosphate), Edible common salt, Thickening agent (415), Vitamin E (acetate), Vitamin A (acetate), Vitamin B1 (Thiamine mononitrate), Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin)
• Contains added flavor – Nature and nature identical flavoring substances
• A single serve is 200 ml which provides 161.7 Kcal of energy and 20 grams of sugar.

Likes

• The consistency is thick.

Dislikes

• Even though it tastes like almond, it’s not the fresh, nutty flavor we expect from an almond milk. 
• The essence is overpowering.

Raw Pressery has two types of chocolate flavored almond milk. One is the Almond Milk Cacao and the other is Cocoa Almond Milk. The main difference between these two variants is the form and amount of cocoa used. They also differ marginally in the percentage of almonds added.

Our experience with the Raw Pressery Almond Milk Cacao was surprisingly very poor. Earlier, when we reviewed this by itself we loved the fresh flavor and consistency. 

This time we noticed a whitish layer on top of our sample (see picture). Mind you, this was not kept standing for a long time. We tasted this anyway and found it to be extremely sour which indicated that this had gone bad, even though it was well within its expiration date.

Now, because it had performed so well in our quick review, we decided to give it another chance. We had to rush to a nearby supermarket to procure another sample mid-review. Even after multiple attempts we could not find the same one and could only get the smaller, bottled beverage (cocoa).

Seeing that there isn’t a lot of difference between the almond and chocolate content, we picked it up. We again checked for the expiration date.

Sadly this too was off-tasting. We were surprised as to how come two different packs from two different stores at varied timings and dates had the same issue with taste. The beverage wasn’t fresh tasting and spoiled our experience.

Features

• A 1 litre tetra pack is priced at Rs 300/-. The 200 ml bottle is priced at Rs 100/-.
• Shelf life – 9 months
• The almond content is 5 %.
• Cocoa content is 1.55%. 
• Ingredients – Water, Almonds (5%), Fructose, Cocoa nibs (1.55%), Emulsifiers (INS 322), Acidity regulator [(INS 341 (iii), INS 332(ii)), Stabilizer (INS 410), INS 170(ii), INS (418)], Stevia.
• A single serve is 250 ml which provides 168 Kcal of energy and 13.65 grams of sugar.

Dislikes

• Both our samples did not taste fresh or delicious, which was the case in our review earlier. Sadly, they tasted sour and had an off-putting aroma.

Why did we choose So Good Almond Chocolate Drink as our Top Pick?

What were we looking for? A fresh-tasting, mildly nutty beverage with rich chocolaty goodness. We found all this in the So Good Almond Chocolate Beverage, which is why it is our Top Pick.

The fact that it has the lowest percentage of almonds did not make any impact on the taste of the beverage. It is neither watery nor too thick and we liked the balanced sweetness as well.

Here are some interesting FAQs on chocolate almond drink brands.

1. Do these almond milks have additional sweeteners?

Yes. All the above mentioned brands of chocolate almond drinks contain additional sweeteners. 

2. Do these almond milks contain preservatives?

No. They do not contain any preservatives. They do contain stabilisers, acidity regulators and emulsifiers.

3. For how long can these almond milks be stored after unpacking?

The shelf life of the beverages vary from brand to brand. They can last between 24 hours to 3 days, so read the label carefully before you open the pack.

4. Can the almond milks be stored at room temperature?

When unopened, yes. Once open, the beverage needs to be refrigerated. 

5. What is the calorie intake range of these almond milks?

A single serve (200-250 ml) of the almond beverage provides 90 to 160 Kcal of energy.

Fresh tasting, mildly nutty and chocolaty! We chose So Good Almond Beverage as our Top Pick.

Our experience with the Raw Pressery Cacao Almond Milk was unpleasant. The artificial tasting essence in the Sofit drink ruined the overall experience. 

Have you tried almond milk yet? Do you like the flavored or unsweetened version? Write about your experience in the comment section below.

* If you do agree with our review, please give it a thumbs up! And, tell us which one is your favorite from this list. If you don’t, please tell us why!

* Food & Beverage is a constantly evolving segment with new products launched daily. Our endeavor here is to help shoppers buy better. If there’s a product you would like us to review tell us by clicking here.

* Our reviews are unbiased and all samples used during the reviews were paid for by us. Read our entire ethics statement here.

* No part of this review is sponsored by any brand. All expenses were borne by us.