Egg Nog has always been my favorite Christmas beverage. It will always be my favorite Christmas beverage. It has years of tradition and happy memories behind it that prevents any contender from knocking it off of it’s yuletide throne. I usually polish off three or four quarts of this stuff every November-December of every year, and I also indulge in at least one Egg Nog milkshake from McDonald’s. Sure, it is extremely rich, but it just wouldn’t be Christmas without Egg Nog.
However, some new products have entered the scene, competing for my holiday drink affections. I came across these three specialty milks in my local grocery store a couple of weeks ago (while I was looking for Egg Nog, naturally), and being a fan of any kind of limited edition, holiday themed products, I decided to pick them up and give them a try. There are actually four holiday flavors. The fourth is Chocolate Cherry, which probably isn’t that bad (especially if you are a fan of chocolate-covered cherries, which I am), but I couldn’t find it.
The three that I did find are all quite good. If you are a fan of specialty flavored milk products, I would encourage you to give them a try. If I had to describe how each of these products taste, I would say this: “How do you think it is going to taste? That is exactly how they taste.” Seriously, they all tasted just like I thought they would taste before I even opened the container, which is either a complement to Prairie Farms’ ability to approximate flavors, or a sad indictment on my gastronomic abilities. It isn’t a talent that I am proud of.
The worst of the three is the Pumpkin Spice milk, which oddly enough is the flavor that is closest to Egg Nog. In fact, I would describe the flavor as Egg Nog with some Pumpkin thrown in. As I said, it was good, but it just wasn’t “special” enough to wow me. That, and if you don’t rinse out your glass after drinking it, it hardens into this odd orange film that looks like some kind of science experiment or rusty sewer pipe.
The second best is the Chocolate Mint milk. The mint flavor is not overpowering, which is a good thing. The chocolate flavor is rich, and it is an enjoyable beverage. I have always enjoyed this flavor combination, from Grasshoppers to the amazing Thin Mints Girl Scout cookies, so I knew I would like this drink. I highly recommend it to chocolate milk fans as a way to mix things up a little bit.
The best is the Candy Cane milk. It tastes like somebody stirred your milk with a fresh candy cane, and all of the delicious candy cane flavored has entered the milk. Seriously, it is like drinking a candy cane, and if that doesn’t appeal to you, then I think you need to re-examine your holiday spirit. I thoroughly enjoyed this flavor, and I will be missing it after the Christmas season has ended. At least it gives me something to look forward to next year — a new tradition to rival the Egg Nog tradition.
