Monday, May 28, 2012

Weak And Not Enough To Give Up Fat For, Swiss Miss Sensible Sweets Fat Free Hot Cocoa Leaves Me Unimpressed.


The Good: Fairly healthy/Not unhealthy, Comparatively inexpensive
The Bad: Environmentally irresponsible packaging, Not the most robust flavor, Aftertaste
The Basics: Swiss Miss Sensible Sweets Fat Free cocoa is mediocre on the taste front, making it hard to sell me on the health benefits.


Sometimes, I am utterly unsurprised when I review something that I purchased on clearance. Usually, it is a product that has a niche consumer appeal. Many products I have bought on clearance, I have looked at and asked myself, “what were they thinking making this?” With Swiss Miss Fat Free hot cocoa, I did not ask that; it made sense to me.

But, having had two boxes worth of this product, bought on clearance, I am not at all surprised it ended up on the discount rack. It is pretty bad.

The Sensible Sweets Fat Free Swiss Miss hot chocolate could have been a triumph – as one who is trying to eat and drink healthier these days, I hoped it would be! – but it is, instead, a pretty solid disappointment for anyone who loves hot chocolate.

Basics

Swiss Miss Fat Free mix is a hot chocolate mix put out by Swiss Miss as part of their Sensible Sweets line. The box of hot cocoa packets is a pretty standard 4.4 oz. box, containing eight .55 ounce packets of hot cocoa. Is it possible Swiss Miss made their product fat free simply by eliminating half the serving size? Regardless, Swiss Miss created a surprisingly bland hot drink with the Fat Free flavor. When hot water or milk is combined with the powder, it makes a lackluster drink that does not become more flavorful as it cools.

Ease Of Preparation

Swiss Miss Fat Free mix is very easy to prepare, as most hot cocoa products are. Because each packet in the box is a single serving, one need only have a mug large enough to accommodate the powdered mix and some water with a little room for mixing it around. Because the powder has some mass to it before it is dissolved, I recommend using an 8 oz. mug.

Preparation is simple; empty the contents of a single packet from the box of eight into an eight ounce mug. Bring a pot of water to a near-boil - the Fat Free does not require boiling water, just very hot water. Boiling the water does not cook the powder, so if one does boil the water, there is no adverse consequence to the beverage. Once the water is hot, simply pour six fluid ounces of water over the powder and stir it up. It is simple to transform the powder into a beverage.

Taste

Swiss Miss Fat Free smells exceptionally mild. This hot cocoa does not smell particularly like anything even remotely chocolate-flavored. Instead, it smells much like the dishwater smelled when I would clean my chocolate-making supplies when I made chocolate a few years back. This is hardly a warming or inviting scent.

The Sensible Sweets Fat Free hot cocoa is entirely bland with its initial flavor. With a flavor of heavily diluted hot chocolate (this flavor tastes like the standard milk chocolate was made with about four times as much water as one is supposed to add), this is not a terrible drink, just a very weak one. At least, it is simply weak for the first thirty seconds of consumption.

After about half a minute, the Fat Free hot cocoa takes on sickly sweet, very dry taste that immediately reminded me of the aftertaste of a sugar substitute (Splenda, I believe). This aftertaste turns sour after about a minute and it is thoroughly unpleasant in the mouth. This aftertaste persists for quite some time until one cleans their teeth or consumes something else entirely.

Nutrition

Swiss Miss Fat Free is a supposedly-chocolate drink which is anything but flavorful. One serving - a single packet - has only 50 calories, none of which are from fat. As a truly fat free drink, this is a great beverage for dieters. This Fat Free hot cocoa has no cholesterol or any vitamin or mineral nutrients, outside calcium (30% of the RDA!) and Iron (a mere 6% RDA), but it does have 180 mg of sodium. This is not a food to try to live off of.

It is hardly a surprise that Swiss Miss Fat Free is not a nutritious food product considering that the primary ingredients are modified whey, nonfat milk, and cocoa. For those with allergies, it is noted on the package that the powder contains milk and there is no notation that this is gluten-free or kosher. It is not Vegan-compliant, obviously.

Storage/Clean-up

Swiss Miss Fat Free mix is ridiculously easy to store and clean up. Because the packets are individual servings and self-contained, as long as one does not store the packets in a wet environment, they will last. My box of cocoa, purchased in late March 2012, has an expiration date of February 25 2013, but it is hard to imagine this would not last past the expiration date so long as the packets inside are kept cool and dry.

Cleaning up Swiss Miss Fat Free mix is easy, as it is a powder which may be easily brushed up. If one spills it after it is mixed with water, it is highly likely to stain lighter fabrics and one ought to consult one's fabric guide for cleaning if that happens. Mugs, though, clean right out with hot water as this fluid does not stain ceramics.

Overall

Swiss Miss Fat Free is inexpensive, but also not worth having. Dieters deserve a hot chocolate beverage that is better than this!

For other Swiss Miss hot chocolate reviews, please check out my reviews of:
Indulgent Collection Mocha Cappuccino
Indulgent Collection French Vanilla
Dark Chocolate Sensation

3.5/10

For other food reviews, please visit my index page!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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