Thursday, May 22, 2014

Liquid Pudding: AspenTaste Eggnog Mix Is Fun!


The Good: Good taste, Easy to prepare, Comparatively affordable, Fat free
The Bad: Environmental impact of packaging, Does not actually taste like eggnog!
The Basics: Eggnog Mix instant Milk drink from AspenTaste is good, but not really indicative of eggnog!


My local grocery store has been selling a number of holiday products at clearance the last few weeks, which is always good for me as a reviewer. My wife and I picked up a ton of the AspenTaste Eggnog Mix on clearance there and have been drinking it pretty regularly since the New Year began. As much as I find myself enjoying the Eggnog Mix, it is hard to compare it to actual eggnog; it’s not quite the beverage that I have loved over the years. The AspenTaste Eggnog Mix is more like a liquid vanilla pudding!

Basics

The Eggnog Mix instant Milk mix is part of the AspenTaste Milk drink line. The mix comes in a 3.75 oz. packet inside a box and is a yummy mix. Each 3.75 oz. packet makes five servings and these might be less expensive than a quart of eggnog, but they are not an authentic eggnog flavor.

Ease Of Preparation

The AspenTaste Eggnog Mix hot Milk mix is fairly simple to make. This has a decent shelf life, though there is no expiration date on the packet or box. Because it is sealed and has some artificial preservatives in is, this is likely to last virtually forever unopened. A single serving is the packet and six oz. of milk. One has to measure three teaspoons of the Mix and the 6 oz. of milk.

Place three teaspoons of Eggnog Mix into a mug. Then, stir 6 to 8 ounces of milk into the mix and stir vigorously. Let the drink sit for two minutes to thicken up a bit and then drink. The beverage has a good pudding analogy as it does have to actually thicken up by sitting for two minutes! It does not get exceptionally thick, but it does get thicker than when it is originally made up.

Taste

Eggnog Mix smells like nutmeg and vanilla. The scent is not very strong, but it is pretty close to what one expects from an eggnog. The aroma is like a cross between eggnog and vanilla pudding.

On the tongue, the Eggnog Mix is a somewhat bland beverage. The flavor is actually very close to vanilla bean, though it is like drinking pudding it is so sweet. The flavor is not quite eggnog like; it is flavorful and overwhelmingly sweet with little in the way of spicing to the flavoring.

The Eggnog Mix beverage has a very sweet aftertaste that lingers for about five minutes.

Nutrition

AspenTaste produces instant drink mixes and therefore not the most nutritious things in the known world, though the Eggnog Mix flavor could be far less nutritious than it is. Eggnog Mix has a few ingredients that cannot be easily identified and thus lacks nutritional benefits. The primary ingredients are sugar, cellulose gum and dextrin. Because it has to be mixed in with milk, it is in no way vegan compliant.

In each cup of Eggnog Mix Cocoa Classics, there are 80 calories, none of which are from fat. There is no cholesterol, but a consumer gets 7% of their recommended daily allowance of carbohydrates out of a single serving of this beverage! There is really nothing else in this mix, save from the milk one adds to it.

Storage/Cleanup

So long as one leaves the Eggnog Mix Cocoa Classic powder in its packet, it ought to stay usable. The packets, for those of us who consider the environmental impact of such things, are not as wasteful as single serving packets.

Cleanup is very easy as well. If the product spills while dumping it into the mug, simply wipe it up or brush it up with a dry or damp cloth. If it has already been reconstituted with milk drink, simply wipe it up. Light fabrics are likely to stain if this gets on them, in which case consult your fabric care guide to clean it up. Any portion of the mix that is not properly stirred into the mug or glass sticks very much to the container, so drinking/mixing vessels need to be either washed out immediately or soaked.

Overall

AspenTaste Eggnog Mix is good, but not as distinctive as actual eggnog. It’s a fun mix, but those who love eggnog will be somewhat disappointed by the lack of realism to the flavor.

For other instant drinks, please visit my reviews of:
Land O' Lakes Double Fudge & Chocolate Cocoa
Nescafe Caramel Latte Memento
Mott's Hot Apple Pie Instant Cider

4.5/10

For other food or drink reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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