I love chocolate milk. Always have. It is my clear-cut favorite drink.
But I felt like a chocolate milk newbie during a recent phone call with Perry James, an international expert in all things chocolate milk.
Talk to him for a few minutes and you’ll hear about the ratio between viscosity and creaminess and his love for the world’s “most precious natural resource”. Chocolate milk is serious business for Perry — one that’s taken him around the world to try more than 1,300 brands of his favorite drink. When travelling to try new chocolate milks, Perry enjoys about a half-gallon a day.
His passion for chocolate milk began as a kid, but his obsession started a few years ago when he decided he wanted to spend a year traveling the world. Whether he was in Europe or Asia, he’d gravitate toward the dairy case at grocery and convenience stores to taste the local take on chocolate milk. Soon, he decided to take his obsession public and rate and review each drink on his blog, A Foolz Errand.
After more than two years traveling the world, he’s settled in Kansas City, but his chocolate milk touring continues. Recently he toured Pennsylvania, the state he calls “ground zero in the world for chocolate milk” due to the variety of options from the many dairy farms.
According to Perry, Pennsylvania, one of the largest dairy-producing states in the country, has more than its share of delicious chocolate milks. Using his 11 rating categories, Perry gives 4 of the 69 Pennsylvania chocolate milks he’s tried his highest rating:
- Apple Valley Creamery, East Berlin, PA
- Rivendale Farms, Bulger, PA
- Windy Ridge Dairy, Fombell, PA
- Whoa Nellie Dairy, Acme, PA
Perry looks forward to future trips soon to check out the amazing chocolate milks in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware. For now, he’ll stay on a steady diet of two glasses of chocolate milk each day from home.