Tag: Cereal

REVIEW: Post Honey Bunches of Oats Chocolate Cereal

Marvo 4 Comments

Chocolat-ize everything.

That’s what the fine folks at Post decided to do with its second attempt at a chocolate version of its popular Honey Bunches of Oats. The first, Honey Bunches of Oats with Real Chocolate Clusters, debuted in 2008 and was around for, um, I don’t even know. At the time, I called it my favorite Honey Bunches of Oats variety, but that might’ve been the sugar talking because, looking back at the review, I gave it a 6 out of 10, and I don’t recall ever buying a second box.

The cereal that came out in 2008 had only chocolate clusters with the usual flakes. This time around, Post decided to not only include crunchy granola clusters made with cocoa and real chocolate chips but also add cocoa to the flakes. This makes for a better tasting cereal that blows the previous version out of the milk.

Speaking of milk, I have to point this out first. Look at the photo below of the Lake Titicacao in my bowl.

No, I did not cheat by pouring chocolate milk. Watching how quickly the white milk turned brown was like a David Blaine magic trick or spraying down a pig that had just rolled around in the mud. I poured the cereal into the bowl, added milk, closed the bag in the box, and turned around to put the cereal back in the pantry. When I turned back around, the milk had completely changed into chocolatey goodness.

Sniffing this was also divine because it smelled like Cocoa Pebbles. Yabba Dabba Do! But it really shouldn’t be surprising; after all, Cocoa Pebbles is also a Post product, so why not cross-pollinate from one of the most chocolatey cereals in the grocery store. However, this Honey Bunches of Oats doesn’t quite have the same cocoa kick as the box rockin’ with Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble. The same flavors are there, but I’d describe its chocolate taste as Cocoa Pebbles for a refined palate but not for a ten-year-old with sugar-crazed taste buds.

I did hope the cocoa on the flakes would’ve helped prevent them from getting soggy too quickly, which is one of the cons of any Honey Bunches of Oats variety, but I guess it’s hard for the cocoa to be some kind of barrier when it instantly washes off into the milk.

Honey Bunches of Oats Chocolate Cereal is my new favorite Honey Bunches of Oats variety. For real. It’s not the sugar talking this time.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free product sample from Post. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 12 oz box
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup – cereal only) 160 calories, 2 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 160 max 34 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 12 grams of sugar (including 12 grams of added sugar), and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: General Mills Kelce Mix Cereal

Marvo 5 Comments

General Mills has teamed up with the Kelce brothers to offer the Kelce Mix Cereal, a combination of Reese’s Puffs, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Lucky Charms. Yes, it just combines three cereals that already exist, but how many of you have had all three in your house at the same time to combine them?

All three cereals are favorites of mine; I will not turn down a bowl of any of them. But if I had to rank them for funsies, I’d put Cinnamon Toast Crunch at the top, followed by Reese’s Puffs, and then Lucky Charms.

Now, with that said, I feel Lucky Charms slightly brings down the whole cereal in this mix. Not the magical marshmallows, though. Much like Jason Kelce was great at blocking opposing defenses, the oat pieces do a good job at blocking this cereal from being a truly great one. (Obligatory shoehorned Kelce football reference completed.)

As I ate through every bowl, there were these bursts of flavorful, sugary goodness when I got a spoonful of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Reese’s Puffs, and Lucky Charms’ Magical Marshmallows. But with those spoonfuls that had too many oat pieces, I felt the magic of this combination wither. General Mills and the Kelce brothers should’ve added the Magical Marshmallows but left out the oat pieces. They somewhat dilute the intense flavors from the other two cereals and prevent the Kelce Mix from being a truly delicious combination. Look at the picture below. Doesn’t that seem like there are too many oat pieces? Travis Kelce should’ve picked out all of them, much like he picks footballs thrown by Patrick Mahomes out of the air. (Bonus shoehorned Kelce football reference.)

But, again, when those oat pieces are sparse in a spoonful, it makes me go a little cuckoo for Kelce Mix. (Sorry, Sonny. And sorry you were left out of this mix.) Cinnamon Toast Crunch’s cinnamon sugar and Reese’s Puffs’ chocolate go g-r-r-reat together (Sorry, Tony), and because the peanut butter flavor in the puffs isn’t overwhelming, it’s a nice complementing flavor. And the Magical Marshmallows add wonderful pops of sweetness that are like the icing on the cake. The milk at the bottom of the bowl was a tasty, but mild, combo of cinnamon, chocolate, and peanut butter.

Overall, the Kelce Mix Cereal is a winner, and it has convinced me that maybe I should have Reese’s Puffs, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Lucky Charms Magic Marshmallows in my kitchen at all times.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free product sample from General Mills. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 11.5 oz box
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup w/o milk) 150 calories, 3 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 230 milligrams of sodium, 32 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 11 grams of sugar (including 11 grams of added sugar), and 3 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Post Limited Edition Honey Bunches of Oats Salted Caramel Cereal

Julie Leave a comment

As Post continues its string of limited edition products, I am continuing my sweetened cereal spree.

After chocolate cake and fruity waffle-inspired cereals, Post is now gifting my morning sweet tooth with Post Limited Edition Honey Bunches of Oats Salted Caramel. The cereal adds salted caramel flavor to the line’s classic mix of crispy, light-as-air-flakes and crunchy clusters.

The cereal smells strongly of caramel, but the taste is less consistent. Some flakes taste pretty plain. Others have a uniform caramel flavor, buttery and lightly sweet, reminiscent of kettle corn. Every fifth or sixth spoonful, a much sweeter piece with a sharp hit of salt stands out.

The inconsistency is both a strength and a weakness. On one crumb-covered hand, the cereal is balanced—sweet, but never candy-sweet—with interesting, varied bites that are both appropriate for breakfast and highly snackable. Conversely, the flavor can be underwhelming. A little extra indulgence (glazed almonds or caramel-flavored yogurt drops, perhaps?) would have added a hint more excitement.

Most of the salted caramel flavor seems to be concentrated in the flakes, but the oats provide a wonderful crunch with a toasty, molasses-tinged sweetness. However, clusters of them are hard to come by. Rifling through the bag, I found mostly loose oats. This was a bummer because I am the type of person who will feel weirdly proud and satisfied when I excavate an especially large chunk of cookie dough from a pint of ice cream. (Read: I will take small thrills where I can find them. Also, I like cookie dough.) If you are the same, do not expect to replicate that sensation with this product.

In milk, the flakes stay surprisingly crisp despite their lightness. The cereal also flavors the milk nicely, leaving a smooth, honeyed sweetness behind. Move over, Cinnamilk—it’s Honeybunchamilk’s time to shine.

Overall, Post Limited Edition Honey Bunches of Oats Salted Caramel teeters on the boundary between subtle and forgettable. Its refreshingly restrained level of sweetness and interesting pops of salt are highlights, but more flavor or texture would add interest. It’s a solid offering from the brand, but it will probably not replace your favorite flavor. My rating lingers between 6 and 7, but I’m rounding up in hopes that Post will trademark Honeybunchamilk and give me a cut of the profits.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Purchased at: Giant Eagle
Size: 12 oz box
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per 1 cup serving) 160 calories, 2 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 260 milligrams of sodium, 34 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 8 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein

REVIEW: Post Limited Edition Mint Chip Oreo O’s Cereal

Brandon Leave a comment

Cookie-based cereal is far from new. Cookie Crisp, the gold standard, has been filling our mornings with sweet, sweet sugar since 1977. In that almost half-century, it has tried its hand at multiple iterations—oatmeal, peanut butter, and sprinkles, to name a few.

Oreo O’s cereal, which came out 20 years later, is a relative youngster by comparison. It disappeared for a bit—well, everywhere except for South Korea—but came back in 2017. Over the years, Oreo has also messed about a bit by featuring an LTO Golden Oreo version and a “Mega Stuf” variety that incorporates creme-flavored marshmallows. But that’s it.

It’s interesting to me that a product known for endless flavors has been fairly conservative regarding the cereal version. Well, maybe the tide is turning, beginning with Mint Chip. In case you missed it, Mint Chip is the Oreo flavor of the moment. It is currently on shelves in cookie form and now as a cereal. So, is the cereal good enough to warrant branching out with new cereal varieties?

Here’s the deal — this cereal is quite minty. But unlike the deplorable Froot Loops Sherbet Scoops cereal I begrudgingly consumed for my last review (in case you missed it, it’s designed to “cool” your mouth), the mint here actually made sense. It was subtler than the mint of a Mint Oreo cookie but still noticeable and moderately enjoyable. (Really, how much you enjoy the mint in these is entirely contingent on how much you enjoy mint, you know?) I cannot, however, understand how this was mint chip and not just regular mint; the mint “flavor crystals,” for lack of a better term, were of a little “chippier” texture than the rest of the cereal, so, maybe that’s it. (Note: I have not tried the Mint Chip Cookie, though Sean recently reviewed it.)

The chocolate—which purports to be made of real Oreo cookie pieces—was predictably Oreo-wafer-like in taste. (That said, I don’t know how distinct the chocolate Oreo wafer taste truly is. It’s really when combined in concert with the creme that we get the cookie’s real essence.)

One thing that surprised me was how these held up in milk. The last bite was truly as crunchy as the first, a quality that is both terrifying and wonderful. On the one hand, I wish all of my favorite cereals had this sustainability, but I also shudder to think what petrification may be occurring with my internal organs.

While I found these Mint Chip Oreo O’s to be perfectly fine, I don’t feel compelled enough to buy them again. Now, if they’re interested in trying out a peanut butter version—peanut butter being the best Oreo variant by far—then sign me up.

Purchased Price: $4.93
Size: 16.5 oz box
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 160 calories, 2 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 210 milligrams of sodium, 34 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 17 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Post Limited Edition Fruity Pebbles Waffles Cereal

Julie 1 Comment

Every year, the end of July marks the moment I’m over summer and ready to be embraced by the sweet chill of autumn. Maybe it’s because my birthday is at the end of July (gifts are welcome), after which I have nothing to celebrate other than a full month ahead of sticky humidity and overly aggressive bees who have taken an unsettling interest in my daily activities. Regardless of the reason, now also marks the time that my favorite summer flavors—berry and lemon—enter the clearance aisle of my heart, making way for pumpkin, apple, and, best of all, maple.

Post Limited Edition Fruity Pebbles Waffles Cereal feels like the perfect product for this transition period, combining flavors of bright summer fruitiness with sweet maple syrup. Imagine two Post greats, Fruity Pebbles and Waffle Crisp, joined as one in the form of tiny waffle cereal pieces flecked with rainbow bits. Fred Flintstone has never given me a reason not to trust him, so I bought the (woolly?) mammoth Family Size box from Walmart.

I could smell the maple emanating from the box the moment I took it off the shelf. The scent was so strong that my cat inspected the unopened box for several minutes with a thoroughness he usually reserves for salmon. From the scent alone, I expected Waffle Crisp cleverly disguised by rainbow sprinkles, but I was surprised that the fruity cereal taste was at the forefront. That generic fruity flavor, which I find to be mostly citrusy with some cherry notes, is supported by a subtle toasted, buttery base. There is a slight maple flavor in the cereal, but, weirdly, it leaves a pronounced aftertaste.

While I would have loved a touch more maple, I could not stop eating this cereal. I particularly love its texture: crisp and crunchy without the airy chewiness of cereals that use primarily corn bases. (Fruity Pebbles Waffles Cereal uses both oat and corn.) Even in milk, the pieces keep their crunch. The texture alone makes me prefer this cereal to the original Fruity Pebbles and their tiny, sogginess-prone flakes.

Post Limited Edition Fruity Pebbles Waffles Cereal is a fun, novel twist on two old favorites. The flavors complement each other well enough to overcome the mash-up gimmick, resulting in a product that feels very much like its own thing worth trying while you can find it. Unlike the immortal Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, this duo of flavors is only around for a limited time.

Purchased Price: $4.93
Purchased at: Walmart
Size: 19 oz – Family Size box
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per 1 1/2 cup serving) 160 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 230 milligrams of sodium, 35 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 15 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein