7 Nesquik Milks, Ranked Worst To Best

Got milk? Nesquik sure does. The brand can't lay claim to that slogan, but it sure is fitting. And we're about to take a trip back in time to our childhoods as we dive headfirst into its wonderful world of flavored milk.

You may recognize Nestle's Nesquik brand by the chocolate powder that started it all in 1948. Back then it was known as Nestle Quik. Or maybe you associate the name with its floppy-eared mascot, Quicky the bunny. It seems like Bessie the cow would have been more on-brand, but I guess the company wasn't interested in taking the obvious dairy route. These are reasonable connections, but for many of us, Nesquik means those ready-to-drink bottled milks. They first hit the market in 1983, which is probably why we '80s and '90s babies hold them so near and dear to our hearts. It's what we grew up on, and those familiar rabbit ears still bring a smile to my face whenever I spot them at the store.

Of course, these days, the lineup extends well beyond plain old chocolate milk. Nesquik is really milking this idea for all it's worth. But that means there are just enough options for a little taste test. I managed to track down seven different Nesquik ready-to-drink milk flavors, including a few I didn't even know existed, and ranked them all based on flavor and consistency. So let's get down to it and break out the bunny.

There are the classic Nesquik milks, like chocolate and strawberry. Then, those exact same flavors get a macros power-up in these Protein Power bottles. Because everything is about protein nowadays, and who is Nesquik (a dairy brand, mind you) to not jump on the trend?

This bulked-up strawberry flavor carries 23 grams of protein in its 14 ounces, while the normal bottles offer 14 grams. It sounds like a sneaky way to reach your protein goals, but unfortunately, your taste buds might have some objections. I didn't see strawberries listed anywhere on the ingredient list. That should have been my first clue that this bottle was questionable. But really, it wasn't so much the flavor as it was the consistency that turned me off.

This milk is significantly thicker than what poured out of the normal strawberry bottle, so it felt more like I was sipping on strawberry yogurt than a refreshing glass of milk. Pair that with a higher level of sweetness (thanks to 19 grams of added sugar), and I instantly put this one down and screwed the lid back on tight. Sure, you're gaining a few extra grams of protein, but at what cost?

I didn't think I'd be able to get my hands on this flavor. For one, I had never seen it before in the wild, and Nesquik's online "Where to Buy" feature was really letting me down. But a few random gas station trips later, and I had managed to track down an elusive bottle — somewhat unfortunately.

I didn't necessarily dislike the flavor; I just found it to be a little weird. There's still no mention of real fruit on the ingredient list, but somehow it doesn't taste like fake fruit, either. It mostly just tastes like banana, with a touch of strawberry sweetness hanging out in the background. Unsurprisingly, it's very similar to a strawberry banana smoothie, except it has the consistency of regular milk rather than a thick, blended drink.

I guess when you get down to it, it's really just a banana-flavored milk. It's fine, and banana lovers will be happy about it. It's just not something I think I would need or want in my life on a regular basis.

Is vanilla milk just regular milk? The two seem like they would be pretty dang similar, and this bottle from Nesquik certainly looks like your average glass of milk (albeit maybe whole milk rather than 2% or skim). However, the taste is decidedly different.

This creamy liquid is much closer to a dessert. It tastes just like melted vanilla ice cream, or better yet, a drinkable vanilla Frosty. It has a smooth flavor to it, without any kind of artificial or chalky taste getting in the way. The vanilla flavoring is obvious, and that's really what separates it from regular milk (well, that and the added sugar). But it doesn't feel like too much.

I actually enjoyed this one. It's exactly as advertised — nothing more, nothing less. I think kids would like it for that extra dose of sweetness, and adults can appreciate its simplicity. But when it comes down to it, it's still pretty plain Jane compared to some of Nesquik's other classics and more adventurous varieties. Through no fault of its own, vanilla just has a hard time measuring up to the chocolates and strawberries of the world.

I can confirm that the strawberry flavor comes in the same muted Pepto-Bismol shade as the Strawberry Protein Power. The labels note that the pink hue doesn't come from artificial colors. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's coming from real berries, either; it's actually thanks to beta-carotene. Anyway, the point is that the two strawberry milks look exactly alike, but the taste of the standard strawberry is so much better.

The flavor itself is much more natural than you might expect. It tastes like strawberries, but not in an overly punchy, strawberry candy kind of way. The sweetness is still just a little bit much for me, however. Like the vanilla milk, the first thing I thought of was melted-down strawberry ice cream (maybe my mind is just always on ice cream, I don't know). It has that same dessert-like quality, just with a strawberry twist and without the off-putting thickness of the Protein Power bottle.

Really, the only reason this flavor isn't at the very top of my ranking is that extra sweetness — especially in the aftertaste. Otherwise, it's creamy, yummy, and wholeheartedly nostalgic.

It's the original Nesquik milk flavor. And even though it was introduced in powdered form first, the ready-to-drink version still has a similar level of charm.

It tastes just like childhood — a classic that brings you straight back to the good ol' days of sack lunches and coming home from school without a care in the world. I wouldn't necessarily say it's the chocolatiest of chocolate milks. Even though the coloring is dark, it keeps the cocoa level fairly low, which I actually don't mind. There are a few ingredients packed in the bottle that I don't prefer to be in my chocolate milk (even some artificial ones), but it still has a good old-fashioned taste.

It's a really easy drink, one that's very chuggable with that nice velvety consistency that makes each sip go down effortlessly. It could just be the familiarity of it and all the fond memories it dredges up, but I've always thought of Nesquik as one of the best chocolate milks on the shelf. I personally like it better than the brand's strawberry version, but I was surprised to find two other Nesquik flavors I actually preferred. Both are still chocolate-focused, just with a different spin on the OG.

Usually you dip your cookies into your milk. But Nesquik decided to skip a step and just infuse chocolate chip cookie flavoring right into the milk from the start. I had my doubts about how it would turn out, but this stuff is good.

Rightfully, Nesquik teamed up with its sister brand Nestlé Toll House for this one, and I can see the resemblance. Did I go so far as to compare it to the Nestlé Toll House cookie dough I happened to have sitting in my fridge? Yes, I did. And there's some definite crossover. It's not a dead ringer, but it offers those obvious brown sugar notes and an almost caramel-like flavor without becoming cloyingly sweet. It also probably could have passed for the milk left over after a bowlful of Cookie Crisp cereal. It's lightly chocolatey and seems like it could be the perfect finale to a sugary breakfast.

I hate to say it, but it's just a bit more interesting and satisfying than the brand's plain chocolate milk. It's like getting all the best parts of milk and cookies all smushed together into one drinkable bottle.

I don't know how there can be such a stark difference between the brand's strawberry and chocolate Protein Power bottles, but here we are. Everything that felt so wrong when we were talking about fruity milk feels so right when there's cocoa involved.

It has that same extra creaminess that the strawberry Protein Power did, but here, it makes the milk feel more indulgent rather than strangely yogurt-like. It's almost like a cold version of European-style hot cocoa. The chocolate flavor also seems deeper than it was in the original chocolate bottle, and it almost gets sweeter as you go in for another gulp. There's also no sign of that weird protein powder taste or any strange chalkiness in the texture. Honestly, if I had tried this in a blind taste test, I probably wouldn't have even guessed it was an extra-protein product.

If I can get all those nostalgic flavors of the brand's traditional chocolate milk (and then some), plus an extra 9 grams of protein, I'm all for it. It's like getting an upgraded version of an old childhood favorite without sacrificing any of the things that made it so good in the first place. And that's exactly why this Nesquik bottle is the cream of the crop.

As I mentioned, it was a little tricky to find all seven of these bottles. Sure, chocolate and strawberry Nesquik are sold almost everywhere you go. But flavors like Strawberry Banana and Chocolate Chip Cookie proved much harder to track down. It took several trips to grocery stores and gas stations to find all seven, which, by the way, make up Nesquik's current ready-to-drink lineup aside from a Zero Sugar Added Chocolate option. I paid between $2.29 and $2.69 for each 14-ounce bottle.

All seven are made with real milk and have similar ingredient lists. So, ranking them really came down to two things: the flavor and the consistency, which is more important than you might think when we're talking about dairy products. Just think about the difference between low-fat milk and whole milk. These are all meant to be low-fat milks, but most have a thicker consistency than you'd expect. In the case of Strawberry Protein Power, it was too thick. I needed something more in the middle, or, more appropriately, thick and chocolatey.

As for taste, I wanted authentic flavors that weren't overly sweet. Many of Nesquik's offerings met those requirements, but some were simply a little yummier than others.