Traditional Chocolate House French Vanilla Cocoa: Product Review

I am a hot chocolate lover and recently purchased Traditional Chocolate House French Vanilla Cocoa Mix. When I eyed the phrase "no sugar added" on the packaging I was even more drawn to try the product. Chocolate House French Vanilla Hot Cocoa mix is packaged in a 21 ounce box that contains 4 packets and is manufactured by Traditional Coffee House Brew in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

Preparation:
The French Vanilla flavored hot cocoa mix is easily prepared by pouring the complete contents of one packet of the hot cocoa mix into a cup and then slowly adding 8 ounces of hot water over the package contents, stirring gently. If you prefer to use a microwave oven the directions state to heat 8 ounces of either cold water or milk into a microwaveable cup and heat until hot. In a separate cup, you then empty the contents of one envelope and pour the previously heated water or milk over the packet of Traditional Chocolate House French Vanilla cocoa powder and slowly stir. The product lists options for preparing the Traditional Chocolate House Cocoa French Vanilla cocoa mix as a cold drink or summer cooler, an idea I never considered because I always drink cocoa as a hot beverage. For a cup of cold cocoa, prepare 4 ounces of hot water and then stir briskly until the contents are dissolved leaving no residue on the bottom of the cup. Once dissolved, pour the prepared cocoa into a glass filled with ice cream and top with whipped cream. For a refreshing summer cool drink, the side panel of the box directs one to add one packet of the Chocolate House Cocoa French Vanilla cocoa mix with four to five ice cubes in a blender, blend until smooth and then serve in a cold tall glass.

Other Flavors
Traditional Chocolate House Brew manufactures three other flavors of the cocoa mix: Perky Raspberry, Double Dutch Chocolate and Mint Julep.

Nutrition Facts
The first ingredient maltodextrin is marked with an asterisk that is later explained as adding a negligible amount of sugar to this product. Nonfat dairy cream, partially hydrogenated soybean or coconut oil, corn syrup solids, mono and diglycerides are some of the other ingredients listed. Both natural and artificial flavors are used in this product as well as saccharin and aspartame that is also marked with an asterisk which explains that it adds a negligible amount of sugar. The very last line of the ingredients lists in bold capital letters: PHENYLKETONURICS: CONTAINS PHENYLALANNINE. I am unsure of the total impact of the statement without further researching the substances but it sure sounds quite ominous to me.

My Impression
After making a cup of Traditional Chocolate House Cocoa French Vanilla cocoa mix, I immediately discovered the cocoa was much too sweet for my taste. One thing I agree wholeheartedly with the manufacturer--no sugar added is a blessing! If sugar were added, I shudder to think what the taste would be. My taste buds would probably rise in revolt. I tried very hard to finish the cup of cocoa but had to finally admit defeat that I could not drink any more of this product. Still hoping to have a good outcome, I made another cup of Chocolate House French Vanilla cocoa mix but this time I used only one half of the contents of the cocoa packet with hopes that it would not be as sweet. Alas! No such expectation was realized. The product was still too sweet for my taste.

In my opinion I cannot recommend Traditional Chocolate House French Vanilla cocoa mix because it is overly sweet and has some questionable ingredients of concern to me. I will not try the other flavors because I fear the product will still be too sweet. Drinking Traditional Chocolate House French Vanilla Cocoa mix was like drinking a cup of sugar, not the relaxing hot chocolate to which I am so accustomed to drink. Now what to do with the two unused packets left in the box?