Banana Milkis Review

Banana is a pretty polarizing flavor. I know that. Unfortunately, I have a wide range of flavors I like, including artificial banana. I know it’s odd but I won’t stop liking it. I always loved when my mom bought the variety pack of Laffy Taffys to pass out for Halloween, because while my brother and I rifled through the package to save a few for ourselves, I knew my little banana babies would be safe. No one else wanted them. Honestly, of all artificial candy flavors, banana might be my favorite. It is consistent if nothing else. I always know what I’m getting myself into. I can’t always say the same for other flavors. Banana flavor is mellow and creamy. I’d heard of the Milkis sodas before, but never tried them. The idea of carbonation and milk is enough to send me over the edge. I don’t care for cream soda, really, but I do enjoy the very occasional ice cream float, so I’m at a crossroads I guess. I believe in my heart that creamy and carbonated can be a combination done correctly, if restraint and precision are exercised.

There aren’t a lot of avenues for bananas to be put into beverages, and I’m working on coming up with some newer alternatives. I neglect bananas often, but sometimes I do get a taste for them (usually when I’m potassium deficient and one of my eyelids starts twitching). I try to keep a well-rounded diet when it comes to fruits and veggies specifically, and drinks are a good way to experiment with different options. I use frozen banana in the cold brew I drink nearly daily, and will try using bananas in other beverages in the future as well, but I wanted to try something different and ready-made.

I watch a lot of food and drink videos on Instagram. They’re usually about thirty seconds or less, with soothing music or no sound at all. Most of them are Korean Instagram pages I found from searching through the #homecafe hashtag. I follow some of the accounts individually, but I also follow the hashtag and watch the videos that pop up there.

I have no idea what most of the ingredients are, but there’s a serious wealth of yogurt- or milk-based drinks that are combined with fruit, syrups and other various brightly colored liquids. They’re beautiful to watch, and I zone out and stare at the screen while peach or strawberry pulp plunges into the milky white yogurt drink to make a creamy concoction.

I’d heard about Milkis drinks a few years ago, and while I was scrolling through this hashtag a few days ago, I stumbled on a drink that used the melon flavored Milkis as a base. When I searched on Amazon, I saw the melon flavor, but my interest was immediately piqued when I saw the banana. I had to try it.

When it arrived, a lot of thoughts ran through my head. What if it’s nasty? This is a serious possibility. It’s carbonated milk. Scratch that, carbonated banana-flavored milk. Is trying this a cry for help? The cans were, thankfully, smaller than I expected. I honestly didn’t even look at the size of the cans but for a moment I panicked imagining a 6-pack of 30 oz carbonated milk cans arriving at my door. What would I do with all of that milk? These cans are almost miniature, at 8.45 oz. I chilled them for a few hours and then cracked one open. The smell is super faint. I expected it to smell like banana pudding, but it was more reminiscent of a banana flavored Runt or a banana Laffy Taffy. It’s not strong though. In retrospect, I think I would’ve liked the smell to be stronger. I took a sip and the texture was also not what I expected. I thought the consistency would be thicker, almost like a liquid pudding or one of those Chobani yogurt drinks. This was really light and smooth. The carbonation factor is DEFINITELY very weird and I didn’t really get used to it for the duration of drinking this first can. I think I potentially COULD get used to it though. It’s not that weird.

All in all, this was a totally fine beverage experience and more normal than you would expect it to be if you haven’t had a carbonated dairy drink before. I started thinking about how interesting this would be in a float. I think that’s something worth trying another time. I wonder how this would taste blended with ice with cherries or strawberries mixed in. This would honestly make a really good banana milkshake base. Maybe with frozen bananas blended in. Wow! The mix-in possibilities are endless. I’m glad I stepped out of my comfort zone to try this. I can’t say I would drink this every day, because I honestly don’t even have dairy like that, but there was very little wrong with this drink. I would drink it again, and I will, because I do have five cans left.

My overall score is 9/10, taking one point off because the smell is too faint.