Apple Pie Toast Crunch

Name: Apple Pie Toast Crunch
Variation: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Technically, I've already reviewed this cereal, but I feel like the individual components were overshadowed in the Caramel Apple Toast Crunch experiment, and I've been meaning to give these two cereals their own spotlight (stay tuned for the other one).

Taken alone, Apple Pie Toast Crunch is very sweet and apple-y; it's reminiscent of pie filling and not just mashed apples, which is pretty cool. The sweet, fruity flavor dulls a little bit as you progress through the bowl and your tongue acclimates to it, but it's a fun holiday cereal that I enjoy. If you have some Dulce de Leche Toast Crunch to add to it, all the better! My rating of two bowls from before shall stand.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: If your tongue isn't completely desensitized by the end of the bowl, it's sweetened with apple and cinnamon.

WinterFest Fruity Pebbles

Name: WinterFest Fruity Pebbles
Variation: Fruity Pebbles
Manufacturer: Post

Review: This year, Post is offering a winter holiday version of its popular Fruity Pebbles cereal, which is functionally very similar to Halloween Fruity Pebbles, in that it's a cosmetic variation (red and green for Christmas) with the "same fruity taste!" you love (or so one would assume). That also means there are no surprises in store for you. Me? I'm still waiting for Cocoa Pebbles to get the holiday treatment. Any holiday. (How about... red strawberry pebbles mixed in with the usual cocoa, for Valentine's Day? Give me a call, Post).

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Fruity.

Gingerbread Toast Crunch

Name: Gingerbread Toast Crunch
Variation: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I'm not crazy about gingerbread, but I was excited when I saw this new holiday edition of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, because it's a clever idea, and on point for the brand (what's a holiday version of bread? Gingerbread!). Visually, it looks like regular CTC. Digging my spoon into it, I'm reminded of CinnaGraham Toast Crunch; my predominant impression being that this is CTC, but blander.

There is an unmistakable gingerbread flavor, which is pretty neat. But I'm not in love with it. Maybe it needs some frosting. As far as holiday versions of Cinnamon Toast Crunch go, I think I'll stick with Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch, or Apple Pie Toast Crunch. Or even Cinnamon Toast Crunch Rolls. There are a lot of options, and this isn't going to become one of my favorites. But it was a fun idea, at least.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Gingerbread-y.

Froot Loops Wonka

Name: Froot Loops Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory
Variation: Froot Loops
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: Can I just say, this cereal has a ridiculously unwieldy name*? I get that it's a media tie-in, but where's the creativity and advertising savvy? Also, it's kind of heartbreaking to have a cereal with "Chocolate Factory" in the name that has absolutely nothing to do with chocolate. On the other hand, adding a berry flavor to what is normally a citrus cereal is an intriguing idea. I can't help but note a similarity to Post's release of Berry Pebbles this year.

Upon opening the box, I see Froot Loops, but with little purple specks. I'm reminded of Kellogg's other cereal tie-ins for Disney which used the star-shaped cereal pieces. Did Kellogg's catch on that their "berry stars" weren't very good, and decide to use the proven formula of Froot Loops instead? Or did they just take Froot Loops, and dumb it down to the level of The Little Mermaid?

It's unusual, digging into a bowl of Froot Loops and getting a berry flavor instead of a citrus one. I don't think I like it as much as regular Froot Loops. In fact, it does indeed remind me very much of Kellogg's berry stars cereals like Hocus Pocus 2. The more bowls I eat, the more I feel like I've been duped. The milk does turn pink (not really purple) and "berry-licious!" as advertised. But it's not enough to repair my impression of this impostor masquerading as Froot Loops.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Pink and berry...y?

*This is a case of me being punished for buying the cereal as soon as I spotted it, as later versions have shortened the name to "Froot Loops Wonka", and ditched Gene Wilder (which doesn't make a whole lot of sense anyway, given that this is a tie-in for a movie with a new actor cast as the character) in favor of giving Toucan Sam an opportunity to dress up. Plus, there's a fun-looking treasure hunt on the back of the box. I think the marketing is an improvement, but I'm going to assume it's the same cereal; anyway, it's not worth taking the risk of buying another box.

Lucky Charms Hidden Dragon

Name: Lucky Charms Hidden Dragon Reveals in Milk
Variation: Lucky Charms
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Check it out - Lucky's new charm gives him the power "to reveal what is hidden"! (Now there's a great power). I have mixed feelings about the appearance of the new marshmallows. Dry, they have a multi-colored, speckled look that effectively imitates the pattern of dragons' eggs (as if that were a real thing). But they do have a tendency to look just like messier versions of the unicorn marshmallow. The way they change color in milk (the white parts dissolve to reveal more color) is cool, but they don't change shape, so it's not like you can't tell what you're gonna get. I like the vibrant colors (the green eggs and the red and yellow flames look great), but I fear the dragons might suffer from the same problem as Galactic Lucky Charms' marshmallows did, in simply being too busy.

I've also seen boxes without the hidden reveal.

Nonetheless, it's a great concept for this cereal. And it tastes just like regular Lucky Charms, so there's no gamble there. That said, I'm a little disappointed that Magic Gems are already nowhere to be seen. What's the point of getting new marshmallows if none of them stick around? And how many different marshmallows does this cereal need, anyway? But I guess that's the nature of the novelty market...

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Mildly oat-y and sweet.

Cinnabon Cereal

Name: Cinnabon Sweet Crunchy Cinnamon Roll Cereal
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: So I heard about this cereal before the end of last year, and I was excited to try it alongside Cinnamon Toast Crunch Rolls. I waited patiently, expecting to find it before Christmas, at the least. But the holiday came and went, and I finally posted my review of Cinnamon Toast Crunch Rolls on (literally!) the last day of the year. I didn't see Cinnabon Cereal on the shelves until the end of January. I was a little bit miffed. Rest assured, it won't affect my impression of the cereal, but that's why I've pushed this review back so far (even by my standards) in protest.

Apparently this isn't Cinnabon's first cereal rodeo (word is they brought it back by popular demand), but it's the first time I've ever had it, and I'm grateful for the opportunity. The "buns" are BIG - bigger than Cinnamon Toast Crunch Rolls. And very crunchy. I think they're a little bulky in your mouth, but they have a really good creamy slash cinnamon-y flavor. This has to be the best cereal imitation of cinnamon rolls I've had yet. Which is appropriate, because come on - it's Cinnabon! I wouldn't say that it "tastes like riding a magical cinnamon unicorn through a sparkling forest of yum" (as it does on the back of the box - which is a pretty color, by the way), but it is very good.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Creamy slash cinnamon-y.

Frosted Flakes Pumpkin Spice

Name: Frosted Flakes Pumpkin Spice
Variation: Frosted Flakes
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: The box is a beautiful teal color - the picture doesn't do it justice (it's a shade greener in person). The cereal smells not just like pumpkin, but sweet like pie. Nevertheless, it's Frosted Flakes - with neither chocolate nor marshmallows, I'm gonna be hard-pressed to like it. I do enjoy having pumpkin pie... once a year. But I'm decidedly not a pumpkin spice fanatic. I feel like the first half of each bite is sweet and pumpkin-y, and then the second half just tastes like corn. If you like Frosted Flakes and/or pumpkin spice products, you might very well like this cereal. But it's not for me.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Sweet and pumpkin-y.

Frosted Mini Wheats Pumpkin Pie Spice

Name: Frosted Mini Wheats Pumpkin Pie Spice
Variation: Frosted Mini Wheats
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: 'Tis the season! The "pumpkin pie spice" flavor is pleasantly sweet. I feel like I could definitely appreciate this cereal - if it weren't being delivered in the form of Frosted Mini Wheats (which I am not fond of). Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that lovers of Frosted Mini Wheats have a pumpkin spice version of their cereal. It fits in well with other versions I've tried - like Blueberry Muffin and Cinnamon Roll. But personally, I'd rather have a bowl of Pumpkin Spice Cheerios instead.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Don't expect the sort of pumpkin spice milk Cheerios leaves you with.

2nd Anniversary Post

I hadn't anticipated making anniversary posts every year, but it's nice to check in and gauge the progress of my blog. By the way, how do you like my new banner? I kind of added it in without fanfare early this year. It celebrates the marble countertop and plain white cereal bowl that are featured in every review, while imitating the font and styling of the source material (not cereal related) that inspired this blog's title - one of my favorite anime series from the '90s, Serial Experiments Lain.

Year 1 Haul

After a full year of double weekend reviews, the workload (which usually swells around the holidays, with seasonal Halloween and Pumpkin Spice and Christmas cereals aplenty) finally seems to be slacking off, now that I'm seeing a lot of stuff I've already tried. It's noticeable enough that I've actually had time to pick up some of my old favorites between novelties, and in certain cases make good on my two bowl ratings and buy a second box of the novelties I've liked most.

It's to a point where I'm considering finally doing a series where I review normal cereals that are not limited edition novelties (as well as fulfill my promise to try all the myriad flavors of Cheerios). This may not be the primary purpose of this blog, but it's something I've had in the back of my mind that I wanted to do if and when the workload ever let up. It also frees me up to do some more independent experiments, mixing different cereals and the like, now that we're just about caught up on all the flashbacks I've been sitting on (just about).

Year 2 Haul

In any case, I'm considering returning to a one-review-per-week schedule (although I may end up eating those words), with the option of temporary expansion whenever necessary. To be fair, the two review format was originally supposed to be occasional only; I just got swamped with material I couldn't put out fast enough. The longterm goal for this blog, after producing a ton of back content for readers to sift through (over 150 cereals reviewed in just two years!), is to not necessarily have a regular posting schedule, but the flexibility of being able to see a new cereal on shelves, buy it, try it, and review it all within the span of about a week. I don't know if the workload will ever dwindle that much, but we'll see.

Thanks for joining me thus far, and I hope you'll stick around. It's been two great years already, and there's still more yet to come!

[Experiment] Fluffernutter Crunch

Description: For this experiment, I added generic cereal marshmallows to Peanut Butter Crunch to imitate the flavor of "fluffernutter" - a combination of peanut butter and marshmallow. I'm surprised I haven't seen this done before; cereals with marshmallows are ubiquitous. Then again, peanut butter isn't the most obvious choice for a base flavor, and peanut butter cereals themselves are not all that common (Peanut Butter Crunch may be the only one you can really count on). Come to think of it, I've never seen a variation of Cap'n Crunch that had marshmallows, so maybe Quaker Oats just doesn't like putting marshmallows in their cereal.

Anyway, it's a good combination. The marshmallows are soft and sweet and add a counterbalance to the crunchy peanut butter flavor. Sourcing the marshmallows (from a different cereal) was a chore, so making it yourself is not that easy, but I think it's a great idea. Cereal manufacturers take note!

Rating: 🥣🥣

[Experiment] Peanut Butter & Jelly Crunch

Description: Here's a fun idea that was hiding in plain sight - adding Crunch Berries to Peanut Butter Crunch... to make Peanut Butter & Jelly Crunch! I picked out the red and purple berries specifically, to represent strawberry and grape jam. Unfortunately, all the berries have the same flavor (I believe the consensus is strawberry); so there is room for improvement. Quaker Oats, are you listening? My instinct was to match the Peanut Butter and Crunch Berries 1:1, but surprisingly, the peanut butter flavor overpowered the Crunch Berries, so I think it's best to bias the mix toward the Crunch Berries. It's good! It can't replace the heartwarming feeling of biting into an actual PB&J sandwich, but it was a fun experiment to try!

Available in strawberry or grape! (Although not really...)

Rating: 🥣🥣

[Experiment] Autumn Krispies

Description: I noticed something interesting while I was documenting the different seasonal varieties of Rice Krispies. Notwithstanding the Valentine's Day version (which I was not expecting), and the Halloween version (which is an outlier), the summer, winter, and spring varieties all cycle through two of three different colors (adding them to plain "white" Krispies) - red, blue, and green. If it were up to me, I would leave red, white, and blue for the Fourth of July; pick out the white and just use red and green for Christmas; and add an Easter-y purple to the blue and green of spring. Then, you could also add that purple to the orange for Halloween. But I have an even better idea for an autumn-themed version of Rice Krispies, and it's inspired by the colors of fall foliage.

With and without "unturned" greens and pale "yellows".

I used a combination of Shocking Orange and Cocoa Krispies for the orange and brown, and separated out the reds and greens from Holiday Colors (in a painstaking effort I hope I'll never have to repeat). I used Cinnamon Sugar Krispies for the yellows, since they have a slightly darker tinge than regular Rice Krispies, which look too bright and white to pass for an autumn gold. Doesn't it look great? I think it would fit in perfectly with a Thanksgiving motif. I just wish it had a better flavor. Or any flavor, really.

Rating: 🥣

[Flashback] Apple Jacks Caramel

Notice: Flashback reviews have been written from memory, without having the cereal in front of me. I started taking pictures of notable cereal varieties several years before I decided to start a blog reviewing them. As such, details beyond whether I simply liked the cereal or not may be hazy, especially regarding the quality of the leftover milk. Whenever possible, I have made an effort to procure another box of the cereal for a proper review (even the ones I didn't like), but due to the ephemeral nature of many of these novelty cereals, this is not always possible.

Name: Apple Jacks Caramel
Variation: Apple Jacks
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: I regret not finding this cereal earlier (it would have made for a good comparison with Caramel Apple Toast Crunch), as by the time I got this box, the cereal tasted noticeably stale. As such, I cannot give it a proper review, but I wanted to document its existence in case I don't ever see it again. As far as I can tell, this flavor was released in the summer of 2020 (which was otherwise a fallow year for novelty cereals in my experience; but maybe that's because I was a shut-in throughout the height of the pandemic). I wish it were easier to track production dates and release schedules for these cereals, from a more authoritative source than hunting news articles and reviews. There should be a database somewhere...

Rating: (withheld)

Halloween Re-Skins

If I'm being honest, I can have a completionist collector's mentality at times, but I'm going to have to draw the line at buying a cereal just because they redesigned the box (which can happen as often as yearly for seasonal regulars). But I'm seeing lots of substantial "re-skins" this year of Halloween-themed cereals I've already reviewed, and I wanted to shine a spotlight on them.

Starting with Halloween Fruity Pebbles. It's a subtle difference, but Bamm-Bamm now appears on the front with Pebbles, while Fred Flintstone has been pushed to the back of the box.

Kellogg's "Spooky Marshmallows" trio has received a complete makeover this year, with eyecatching "specimen-in-a-jar" designs for Froot Loops, Apple Jacks, and Chocolate Frosted Flakes.

Shocking Orange Rice Krispies adopts the same motif, despite not adding marshmallows (or anything, really, to make the cereal worth eating), effectively becoming the uninvited fourth wheel to the Spooky Marshmallows trio's proverbial tricycle.

Note the Cap'n's creepy new CGI look for this year (inching ever closer to that precipice overlooking the uncanny valley). As a piece of fun trivia, Halloween Crunch was the first cereal I ever reviewed for this blog!

And looky here - Reese's Puffs Bats gets yet another new design. I've also noticed that it's getting a more prominent display at Walmart, after being unceremoniously tucked away in the Halloween costume aisle last year.

If you stop over at Sam's Club, you can even find it in a double pack, paired with this year's new Kit Kat cereal. Don't give me any funny trick 'r treat ideas, General Mills!

Also spotted at Sam's Club is Zombie Apple Jacks - boasting a green apple flavor, and a formula that turns your milk green. If it weren't being sold in double packs, I would have bought it, but I'm pretty confident this is just Kellogg's repurposing Apple Jacks Nickelodeon Slime from last year.

On the subject of zombies, I was also excited to see Monsters Cereal's new flavor Carmella Creeper (and to a lesser extent, Monster Mash Remix), as well as Lucky Charms branching out into the autumn market with Haunted Marshmallows. But as these are brand new cereals, they've earned themselves each a separate post and review (along with late-comer It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown).

Go check them out - and pick up a few boxes before they turn up missing (if it's not already too late). But most importantly of all, have a Happy Halloween!

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Name: It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: This is a pretty neat idea for a cereal (in the same spirit of nostalgic holiday family films as General Mills' Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer from last Christmas), but honestly, I was a little bit exasperated when I spotted it on the shelves after the 1st of October (who waits until October to stock their Halloween products anymore?), as I had already had all my review slots filled up through Halloween - including two cereals (Reese's Puffs Bats and Halloween Fruity Pebbles) I couldn't squeeze in last year. (Don't worry, I eventually got the scheduling figured out).

I considered writing an angry letter to Kellogg's, when I realized it was really General Mills I should be writing the angry letter to. This is the only brand new Halloween cereal from Kellogg's I've seen this year; by contrast, General Mills not only introduced a new Monster cereal, plus a remixed version of Monster Mash, but - as if that weren't already more than enough - they also debuted a Halloween version of Lucky Charms. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, you know...

Anyway, it's a curious choice to make this a vanilla cereal (as opposed to, say, pumpkin spice?), but I really like the green and orange motif - it perfectly evokes the aesthetic of a pumpkin patch. I almost didn't notice it at first, but there are marshmallows present - little pumpkins hidden like camouflage among the orange puffs. And these puffs have that same pleasantly soft mouthfeel that I recognize from other recent cereals, including ICEE cereal (minus the menthol blast) and Miraculous. I'm not crazy about vanilla, but the flavor is inoffensive, and the texture of the puffs is quite inviting. I don't love it, but it's a very pleasant cereal to eat. As far as Kellogg's recycled novelties go, I like these "gentle puffs" much better than their "berry stars" (which we'll see again before the end of the year).

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Subtly vanilla.

Halloween Fruity Pebbles

Name: Halloween Fruity Pebbles
Variation: Fruity Pebbles
Manufacturer: Post

Review: I spotted this cereal last year at Target; this year, it's even turned up at Walmart. Boasting the "same fruity taste!", this is just regular Fruity Pebbles, but colored for the holiday. At least you know what you're getting. The purple and orange pebbles look great, but regular Fruity Pebbles is so vibrant, I always have mixed feelings when they reduce the colors down to just two (like they did with Magic Fruity Pebbles). I'm surprised the box doesn't advertise a color-changing milk effect - I did observe the milk to change noticeably orange. One thing this cereal could do to improve my opinion is take a note from Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles and add some marshmallows. You could even make them spooky! (Or haunted). Barring that, I'd love to see Cocoa Pebbles have a turn with the Halloween banner...

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Fruity, and a little orange.

Chocolate Lucky Charms with Haunted Marshmallows

Name: Chocolate Lucky Charms with Haunted Marshmallows
Variation: Lucky Charms
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I knew Carmella Creeper was coming before she arrived on shelves, but I was surprised to find Lucky Charms with a new Halloween version of its cereal this year. I imagine it's poised to compete with Kellogg's Chocolate Frosted Flakes with Spooky Marshmallows - which I saw conspicuously missing from the store where I picked this box up, even though they had both Froot Loops and Apple Jacks with Spooky Marshmallows (albeit on the back end display of the aisle - did Kellogg's lose some bids with the marketing guild this year?).

Functionally, this is just Chocolate Lucky Charms like we've seen before, but with an even wider array of marshmallows. I do believe these Haunted Marshmallows are the same ones you can find in Count Chocula. Obviously, I love it - and the marketing is fun. The back of the box humorously features Lucky dressed up as a unicorn, and a unicorn dressed up as Lucky! But isn't the Halloween cereal market already pretty saturated as it is?

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Mildly chocolatey.

Monster Mash Remix

Name: Monster Mash Remix
Variation: Monsters Cereal
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: As if premiering a brand new Monsters Cereal character for the first time in 36 years wasn't enough, General Mills also remixed Monster Mash this year. And I almost didn't buy it, given how little I liked the cereal the first time around. But they had to go and give it a new subtitle (playing off of, I'm sure, Carmella Creeper's characterization as a DJ). Besides, there's a significant new flavor going into the mix this time around (caramel apple), so it seemed like it would be different enough to warrant giving it another try.

Opening the box, all I see is Carmella Creeper and Boo Berry pieces. No Count Chocula (again). Not even Franken Berry. Why not mix all the monsters together? They're on the cover of the box - even Frute Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy! And who chose this particular combination? Seems to me like blueberry/strawberry or strawberry/chocolate would be a better choice, or even chocolate/caramel apple. But caramel apple and blueberry? (Here's an idea for you - blind box cereals! You don't know what you're gonna get until you open the box! Note to General Mills: please don't make blind box cereals).

Tasting it, I'm not sure there's even any caramel apple flavor at all. The box just says "berry-flavored". The green and purple pieces give off a good Halloween vibe, but are the colors just for show? Why is it even called Monster Mash, then? I can't tell if the marshmallows have different flavors, but they do taste fruity. It's actually not bad. I might even like it better than Carmella Creeper. It's a definite improvement over the last version of Monster Mash, but I honestly couldn't tell you why. A lot about this cereal remains a mystery to me.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Pleasantly fruity and/or marshmallow-y.

Carmella Creeper

Name: Carmella Creeper
Variation: Monsters Cereal
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I'm very excited that General Mills is introducing (for the first time in 36 years!) a brand new member of the Monsters line of cereals this year. My only regret is that I haven't had a proper chance to review Fruity Yummy Mummy yet (my great regret from 2013, when I was only just starting to get back into eating cereal).

Before even trying it, I can say that I love everything about this cereal. Conceptually, it's an excellent choice of addition to the lineup. It's a zombie character; she's a girl; it has an eerie green motif that is quite festive; and the flavor is caramel apple!

Not only is this an intriguing flavor - and a great choice for a cereal available exclusively in the fall - but it adds some welcome novelty to a lineup that, if not for Count Chocula, would be nothing but different shades of "fruity with marshmallows" (although last year's Frute Brute was surprisingly good - I still think it should replace Franken Berry in the regular trio). All that's left is to actually try the cereal and see how it tastes. :-p

The color of this cereal is not the prettiest shade of green, but I think it effectively conveys the look of zombified flesh. The flavor and texture seem consistent with the other Monster cereals - you're not punched in the mouth with it, but there's an underscore of caramel apple flavor. And the marshmallows pull their weight (although they don't look very distinctively like anything in particular).

I don't think this is going to become my new favorite Monster cereal. Nobody can compete with Count Chocula; and I don't think I like it even as much as the new and improved Frute Brute (wish that would stick around). But I like that it stands out from the other cereals with a unique flavor that is perfectly poised to join the lineup. Whether or not this one lasts - I guess that depends on how well everyone else likes it.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Not really colored and only subtly flavored.

Reese's Puffs Bats

Name: Reese's Puffs Bats
Variation: Reese's Puffs
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I went through a lot of trouble to get this box - but I really wanted to do a proper review of this cereal for my blog. I saw evidence online that it had been re-released - with a new box design! - though I never saw it in stores, despite actively looking for it. So I resorted to ordering a box over the internet (for the first time ever!) last year. I was prepared to eat it stale if necessary, but the expiration date revealed that it had been manufactured just that year. And then - you'll never guess what happened next.

Literally, two days after I had a box shipped from Bolingbrook, IL, I was at Walmart looking at Halloween costumes, and I spotted the cereal tucked away on a bottom shelf in the Halloween candy aisle, on the opposite side of the store from the groceries! I was fully prepared to give General Mills my money, and even looked specifically for this product in vain, only for them to pull this stunt. Why can't they keep the cereal in the cereal aisle? I was torn between sending them an angry letter, and throwing my money at them anyway. I did the latter, because we're all hapless slaves to late stage capitalism.

September 2018

Anyway, notwithstanding all that drama, the cereal rocks. It's Reese's Puffs like you know it, but in the shape of bats. And the new box design looks great! It's a decided improvement over the old design. Reese's Puffs may be overly indulgent for some, but I think it's delicious. Whenever I eat a bowl, I can't seem to gobble it up fast enough. I just wish the milk tasted more strongly of peanut butter and chocolate.

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Not as rich as the cereal itself.

Kit Kat

Name: Kit Kat Cereal
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I buy a lot of cereal, and I have a pretty strict system for scheduling which box gets opened when, based primarily on shelf dates (rather than the order I pick them up), with occasional exceptions made for time-sensitive cereals (e.g., holidays, movie promotions) - which is why some cereals sometimes jump the line while others seem to languish for months on top of my fridge. All of this is to say that I bought this cereal a long time ago and the fact that it's taken me this long to try it does not reflect on my level of anticipation for it. I think a cereal based on Kit Kats sounds amazing (I'm crossing my fingers that Twix is next).

There's something familiar about this cereal, but I can't quite put my finger on it (and it's not just the Kit Kat flavor). There's a general resemblance to Chocolate Toast Crunch, but these wafers are softer (and of course there's no cinnamon). The box emphasizes that this cereal is crispy and chocolatey, and it is that. I don't think a cereal can perfectly imitate the texture and mouthfeel of eating a Kit Kat, but the flavor is pretty close, and it really is a good cereal all on its own. My only complaint is that it doesn't turn the milk chocolatey - like, at all. I daresay that's the only thing keeping me from awarding this cereal a three bowl rating. Still, I'd call it a success.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Speckled, but pretty plain.

Corn Flakes Honey Flavor

Name: Corn Flakes Honey Flavor
Variation: Corn Flakes
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: Corn Flakes are about as white bread as breakfast cereals get. I mean, they're not even Frosted! Even with a Honey Flavor, I passed this box over time and time again. I finally broke down and bought it for two reasons. First, I found it for half price at Ollie's Bargain Outlet ("Good Stuff Cheap"). And second, I thought it would make a good companion for Frosted Mini Wheats Golden Honey.

The cereal has a good honey smell when you open the box, but the flakes taste pre-e-etty plain in milk. It's not even as good as Kellogg's Crunchy Nut, and that's not a very high bar to begin with. I had to add Just Magical Marshmallows (approximating Lucky Charms Honey Clovers) just to get through the box. Why do they sell Corn Flakes in such big boxes, anyway? Who eats that much Corn Flakes? Farmers? I'm definitely not the target audience for this product.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Laced with a trace of honey.

Frosted Mini Wheats Golden Honey

Name: Frosted Mini Wheats Golden Honey
Variation: Frosted Mini Wheats
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: On the plus side, I actually really like the honey flavor. But on the minus, these are still Frosted Mini Wheats, and the fact that I won't even eat a full bowl of them (after I took the picture, I poured three fourths of this bowl back into the box) means I can't in good conscience give this cereal anything higher than a one bowl rating. But I know one or two people who like Frosted Mini Wheats, so I imagine I'll keep reviewing their different flavors - which have been pretty consistently good so far (in my opinion); I just don't like the taste and texture of shredded wheat - and then passing the boxes along.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: I can't get past that dull, shredded wheat flavor.

Just Magical Marshmallows

Name: Just Magical Marshmallows
Variation: Lucky Charms
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Just Magical Marshmallows is available in eight different packages, highlighting each of Lucky's standard charms, with a cheesy limerick on each one, describing the featured charm's magical power. For reference, hearts bring things to life, stars give the power of flight, horseshoes can speed up time, clovers grant good fortune, blue moons give the power of invisibility, unicorns add color to the world, rainbows allow you to teleport, and red balloons can make things float. If you could have only one, which power would you choose? I bought a bag featuring the unicorn based on aesthetics, but invisibility is usually my power of choice.

Anyway, I'm sure this product is meant to be used as a mix-in or a topping, but I read about a promotion where they released boxes of Lucky Charms that were nothing but marshmallows, and I felt left out. So this is my big chance! Besides, when I opened Lucky Charms S'mores, the box was top-loaded with marshmallows, and those first couple of bowls were really good. Let's dig in!

It's like the best bowl of Lucky Charms you've ever eaten! Marshmallows - and nothing but marshmallows - in every bite! It's like Oops! All Berries, but for Lucky Charms instead of Cap'n Crunch! In all seriousness, though, it's just too much marshmallow. I actually find I'm missing the regular pieces (as bland as they are), just to act as a contrast. The concept is quite alluring, but I'm not THAT much of a hedonist... Still, these marshmallow packs are useful. They can even make a box of Frosted Flakes halfway palatable!

Rating: 🥣 as a cereal, but 🥣🥣🥣 as a mix-in or topping
Leftover Milk: Marshmallow-y, to say the least.

Marias Gamesa

Name: Marias Gamesa Cereal
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: Gamesa

Review: I normally don't pay attention to cereals not manufactured by either General Mills, Kellogg's, Post, or Quaker Oats. You can call me a brand snob if you like, but in my defense, I have a hard enough time keeping up with new releases just from those four brands, and I can at least count on a certain level of quality with them. This Gamesa label is a complete unknown to me, but they've scored with their shelf placement for this cereal, because I've taken notice, and I'm a little curious. So I decided to give it a try.

I'm not familiar with the cookie this cereal is based on (although it touts itself as "Mexico's #1 cookie"), so I can't say how good of an imitation it is, but snacking on the cereal wafers dry, I can easily imagine them as a cookie. I'm not sure whose "mom's authentic love" they're made with, but they're crispy, and have a subtle yet complex flavor. And they stay crispy in milk, too (to a reasonable degree). Eating them isn't an unpleasant experience at all. I just think they're too plain vanilla for my tastes. But if you like the cookie, you might very well love this cereal.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Sweet and vanilla-y.

Chocolate Toast Crunch

Name: Chocolate Toast Crunch
Variation: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Chocolate Toast Crunch has an advantage over other "chocolate alternative" cereals (e.g., Chocolate Cheerios, Cocoa Krispies, Cocoa Pebbles, Chocolate Frosted Flakes) in that it's not just chocolate. The thing that makes Cinnamon Toast Crunch unique is its cinnamon flavor, and the chocolate variety maintains that flavor. The one other cereal that does this is Chocolate Lucky Charms, which preserves the marshmallows that characterize Lucky Charms. But marshmallows aren't as uncommon in breakfast cereals as cinnamon, and the combination of chocolate and marshmallows (as much as I love it) isn't exactly unique, whereas chocolate and cinnamon is almost unheard of. But most importantly, they taste good together. I always enjoy an opportunity to dig into a box of Chocolate Toast Crunch.

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: A tasty blend of cocoa and cinnamon notes.

Tres Leches Toast Crunch

Name: Tres Leches Toast Crunch
Variation: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I had to look up the difference between "dulce de leche" and "tres leches", because it sounded to me like "tres leches" just meant more leche... As it turns out, "dulce de leche" is a milk-based caramel-like confection, while "tres leches" is a type of sponge cake soaked in three different kinds of milk (in varying densities, from evaporated to condensed to heavy cream). Sounds pretty decadent.

Choose your leche.

This cereal has a very strong smell out of the box - I don't know how else to describe it but "very milky cake". And the milky, creamy flavor follows through. Given the emphasis on milk, and the fact that you pour milk over cereal, I feel like "tres leches" was a pretty obvious choice for a cereal flavor, but I can't say that I like it. I don't actually like the flavor of milk - I prefer when a cereal makes the milk taste like something else. Most of the time, I can power through a cereal I don't particularly like, but I don't know that I want to eat even a second bowl of this - the milky milky milk flavor just puts me right off.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Super sweet milky cinnamon.

TMNT Mutant Mayhem

Name: TMNT Mutant Mayhem Cowabunga Cinnamon Apple
Variation: Cookie Crisp?
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I was intrigued by this cereal promoting the new animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie Mutant Mayhem right from the outset, with its "Cowabunga Cinnamon Apple" flavor, and the fact that it has marshmallows. Is this General Mills' answer to Kellogg's Apple Jacks? The Nickelodeon tag calls to mind last year's variation, Apple Jacks Nickelodeon Slime. The back of the box features half of a board game, in what feels like a cheap ploy to get you to buy a second box; but the game looks fun pieced together.

"Collect both games to complete the adventure."

Upon opening the box, I see suspiciously Cookie Crisp-like wafers, but with a sweet and apple-y taste. The marshmallows (I feel like there could be more of them, or have they sunk to the bottom of the box?) are little green turtle heads with their four different colored masks. I would describe the taste as if applesauce were made into a cereal, but the flavor fades a little bit as your tongue acclimates to it. The wafers offer a satisfying crunch, and the occasional bite of marshmallow is always appreciated.

I feel like these flat, round saucers could easily have been pizzas - I'm surprised they didn't capitalize on that. But I guess that would have been a weird flavor for a cereal (can you imagine "Pizza Puffs", or "Marinara and Mozzarella Crunch"?). I feel like this cereal distinguishes itself perfectly well from Apple Jacks, despite featuring a similar flavor (though it's a good choice as we're heading in to fall). As to whether I prefer it over Apple Jacks with Marshmallows? Hard to say.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Definite hints of apple & cinnamon.