[Experiment] Froot Loops Lemonade

Description: I wanted to try this experiment last summer, but I never got around to fitting it into my schedule. But after trying Frosted Lemon Cheerios this spring (and then discovering another lemon cereal in Hot Wheels), I felt it was time.

I remember being pretty shocked when I learned that the flavor of Froot Loops is lemon - less from the realization that the differently-colored loops are not different flavors, and mainly because when it comes to fruit-flavored candy and snacks, I tend to favor the red fruits (strawberry, cherry, watermelon) over the citrus-y ones (lemon, lime, orange). Yet, somehow, Froot Loops is my favorite (mainstream) fruity cereal.

Anyway, knowing that Froot Loops is lemon-flavored, I'm surprised Kellogg's has never (at least to my knowledge) capitalized on that fact and marketed a "lemonade" oriented version of Froot Loops. It could be a summer staple! I was thinking that you could pare down the loops to just yellow and red/pink, and call it Froot Loops Pink Lemonade.

Pink & Blue Lemonade

Of course, once I thought of that, my imagination started running, and I realized you could do a number of other variations - like Lemon Lime, Blue Raspberry, and Cherry Limeade!

Lymon Loops

Blue Raspberry

Cherry Limeade

As you can see, I went a step further and started tossing in differently-colored Crunch Berries - which could be used to simulate Strawberry and Blueberry Lemonade!

Strawberry & Blueberry Lemonade

(Yes, it's really red).

Honestly, it got to a point where the myriad possibilities started to become overbearing, and I just had to draw a line and stop experimenting. Maybe that's why Kellogg's has never released a Froot Loops Lemonade. Still, I think it's a good idea.

Rating: 🥣🥣

Froot Loops Mega Mix-Ups

Name: Froot Loops Mega Mix-Ups
Variation: Froot Loops
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: Aptly described on the box as "classic Froot Loops with jumbo Froot Loops mixed in", this variation follows Froot Loops' recent Color Mix-Ups. I would have been interested to try a box of just jumbo Froot Loops - it would have made for a good contrast to General Mills' Minis lineup this year (although a box of mini Froot Loops would be fun, too). The flavor doesn't provide any surprises - this is just Froot Loops, but with the occasional textural variation of the jumbo loops. Like Reese's Big Puffs, they're a bit cumbersome in your mouth. I had more fun with this novelty than Color Mix-Ups (which was a hot mess), but I still wouldn't say it's an improvement over regular Froot Loops, which are already very good (and even better with marshmallows!).

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: A little sweet & fruity.

ICEE Cereal

Name: ICEE Cereal
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: Stay cool for the summer with this new cereal inspired by ICEE frozen drinks! To start with, the box's mention of cold temperatures and sweaters and the Antarctic Plateau will have you wondering if it's not really the middle of winter. I've gotta give this cereal an A+ for advertising, because it looks like a lot of fun to eat. But how does it taste?

The red and blue (and purple bleed) puffs look a little faded compared to the vibrant colors on the box, but they smell strongly of syrup. I was afraid they would be too sickly sweet, but they're not as intense as all that. The predominant flavor is menthol (or whatever it is they use for the cooling effect), but under that is a decent fruity flavor. The puffs are soft, and have a pleasant mouthfeel, similar to Miraculous cereal.

I like it better than Elf on the Shelf North Pole Snow Creme, but I'm just not fond enough of that cooling effect to want to eat it again. That said, I'd like to see somebody use it in a chocolate cereal to imitate a peppermint pattie.

Like Wendy's Frosty cereal, the box dares you to put a bowl in the freezer (for a whopping - and excessive - thirty minutes) before adding milk for a "super-chill crunch". As if pouring cold milk into your cereal (watch it freeze against the side of the bowl!) isn't enough, not to mention that cooling effect, which is pretty much swallowed up by the cold, yet leaving behind that distinctive menthol flavor. I think it's a bit much. It was fun to try, but there are better icy treats to cool you down on a hot summer day than a bowl of cereal.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Tastes like the syrup you get at the bottom of an ICEE.

Fruity/Cocoa Pebbles Crunch'd

These new Crunch'd versions of the Pebbles cereals are intriguing - and a little bit surprising - because they eliminate what's not only the most distinctive thing about these cereals (the "pebble" shapes) - but also what I like about them the least. Does that mean I'll like them better? Let's find out.

Name: Fruity Pebbles Crunch'd
Variation: Fruity Pebbles
Manufacturer: Post

Review: First, it doesn't make the same visual impression as regular Fruity Pebbles. Instead of vibrant colors, we get a dull blue and red, with a muddy purple mix and a yellow that looks stained with red (nowhere near as pretty as they look on the box). It gives off a vague "red, white and blue vibe", and actually reminds me a lot of Disney's 100 Years of Wonder cereal released this year. Incidentally, both of these are Post cereals, so maybe there's some overlap. Seems kind of lazy. But then we get to the flavor. It's barely even fruity - again, like 100 Years of Wonder. This doesn't even taste like Fruity Pebbles. The only thing it has going for it is the pieces are big enough to pick up and munch on dry (and they do stay crunchy, even in milk). But would you even want to?

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Pink and not-so-fruity.

Name: Cocoa Pebbles Crunch'd
Variation: Cocoa Pebbles
Manufacturer: Post

I'd imagined this cereal would be harder to mess up. All the pieces are brown, and "cocoa" isn't as ambiguous a flavor as "fruity". Honestly, though, there's a bit of a weird note to the flavor. The pieces are, again, big and crunchy, but as much as I said I didn't like the traditional pebbles, I think I might actually be missing them. I thought these cereals would feature the classic flavors just in a new form, but instead there seems to be a break in continuity. They're their own thing, and I'm not sure that thing is all that good. I don't know if these cereals are gonna last - that may depend on how other people feel about them. But I liked last year's Pebbles variants (the ones with the marshmallows) much better.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Chocolatey, but not as dark as its forebear.

Miraculous

Name: Miraculous Strawberry Macaron
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: Although I haven't watched the show (yet), my partner is a huge fan of it, so we were excited when we found out they were making a cereal based on the hit animated series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. I actually spotted the boxes on the top shelf at Walmart before they were placed in their display, and climbed the shelves to be one of the first in our store to grab one.

One box, two sides

Upon opening the box, a pleasant aroma of strawberries and cream greets your nose. The cereal consists of light red and purple puffs, with a smattering of plain (and classy) white marshmallows. I was a little bit concerned that I wouldn't like it, based on my reservations towards mixing strawberries with cream, but the puffs have a soft and dough-y texture (no doubt imitating the macarons they're modeled after) that surprised and impressed me - and kept me coming back for bite after bite after bite. I feel like they could have easily left the marshmallows out, but I'm glad they included them, because they provide a little extra variation of flavor and texture.

I'm happy to report that Kellogg's has done Miraculous justice with this cereal - I hope it sticks around for a bit. It would be a good replacement for similar children's media tie-ins - like PJ Masks, LOL Surprise!, Minecraft Creeper Crunch, JoJo Siwa Strawberry Bop!, and Pokémon Berry Bolt - none of which I see in stores anymore.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Light pink and strawberry creamy.

Rainbow Krispies

Name: Rainbow Krispies
Variation: Rice Krispies
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: When I was trying out the different colored holiday versions of Rice Krispies and brainstorming my own ideas, I came up with the idea of doing Rainbow Krispies. But I nixed it because I've never known Rice Krispies to put out purple Krispies (even though I think they would mix well with Spring Colors). Also, I realized that it would just be Fruity Pebbles, without any flavor. But then, this spring, I go to the store and find that Kellogg's has actually released a Rainbow Krispies! It's colorful, it smells fruity, and it's even got new scoop shapes - it's blatantly obvious that this is Rice Krispies trying to be Fruity Pebbles. So how does it stack up?

Firstly, does it even count as a Krispies cereal if the pieces are now solid scoops? It still snaps, crackles, and pops, but maybe a little less than before. And it's definitely not skimping on the flavor - which is reassuring, given how bland Rice Krispies usually are. However, the taste has an almost over-saturated, "syrup-y" quality, like digging your spoon into the juices at the bottom of a snow cone (but not in a good way). I'd rather eat this than most varieties of Rice Krispies, but that doesn't mean I like it. Is it better than Fruity Pebbles? I doubt it. But I will say that Kellogg's has done a pretty good job of bringing new life to the Krispies lineup with this cereal; and though it may be a cliché in this era, I rather enjoy the rainbow branding.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Fruity, and NOT absorbed by the cereal!

Hot Wheels Cereal

Name: Hot Wheels Cereal
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I'm not a Hot Wheels fanatic, but I'll give this new cereal a spin. The base consists of fruity yellow loops that are wider and thinner than Froot Loops (I'm guessing they're tires?). On top of that you have marshmallows in three shapes. The pink wheels with blue stars stand out the most. The flames look cool, but are smaller, and the lightning bolts completely disappear in all the yellow. I do believe the flavor I'm tasting is lemon (once again) - I wish cereals would indicate "lemon" or "strawberry" or "blueberry" or even "mixed berry" instead of calling them all "fruity" (or the dreadfully generic "berry"). You can't even tell by looking at the ingredients list, because there's not actually any fruit in it - the flavor comes from a secret mixture of added chemicals. As always, the marshmallows improve the product, and actually have a bit of a nostalgic flavor I can't quite put my finger on (are they fruity, too?). I don't think I'll be racing to the store to get more, but by promo standards, this is actually a pretty decent cereal.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Dull orange and only mildly fruity.

Frosted Lemon Cheerios

Name: Frosted Lemon Cheerios
Variation: Cheerios
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I resisted buying this cereal for a while, solely because I was outraged by the $6.49 price tag. But my partner was intrigued by it, and we eventually broke down (as we both - along with the CEO of General Mills - knew we would). By now, it must be common knowledge that Froot Loops are lemon-flavored (I was surprised to learn this, only because I wouldn't have thought I'd like a lemon-flavored cereal as much as I like Froot Loops), so I was curious to see how Cheerios' lemon loops compare.

I always go to Kroger when I want to overpay for cereal.

It doesn't make the strongest visual impression - the cereal looks like pale, wrinkled Cheerios (although they pick up a little color when wet). But they have a pleasant lemon flavor. They're definitely not as sweet as Froot Loops. On the other hand, these loops are strangely cool and refreshing. I bet this would be a good cereal to cut up strawberries (or even blueberries!) into.

I was ready to write this cereal off as a poor substitute of Froot Loops, or in favor of better fruity varieties of Cheerios (like Strawberry Banana), but I think I actually like it. I'm just not sure I like it enough to pay $6.49 for another box, when I can get a Family Size box of Froot Loops for $2 less...

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: It's like if lemonade were a milkshake!

Trix Firecracker

Name: Trix Firecracker
Variation: Trix
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: As far as I can tell, this is just a re-skinned version of a cereal I found at Sam's Club last year - Trix Fireworks. The thing with Sam's Club is that they sell all their cereals in double pack boxes, so sometimes they have products that you won't find anywhere else (which I think is annoying, because it's not one of my favorite places to shop). So I'm guessing Trix Firecracker is just the version of Trix Fireworks that General Mills gives to all the other retailers (but I could be wrong). And you know, I think I might like the blue box better. Regardless, there are no surprises here. This is just red and blue swirled puffs of Trix, with white starburst-shaped marshmallows. One thing I'll note is that, after finally having fruit-shaped Trix again, I think the puffs hold less fruity flavor. Maybe that's why they're not as popular.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Slightly pink, even less fruity.

Lucky Charms S'mores

Name: Lucky Charms S'mores
Variation: Lucky Charms
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Although this could simply be considered Chocolate Lucky Charms with graham crackers added (it also has S'mores marshmallows, in addition to the usual Lucky Charms marshmallows), it holds considerably more promise than CinnaGraham Toast Crunch because Chocolate Lucky Charms has two things Cinnamon Toast Crunch doesn't have - chocolate and marshmallows. Which are the two other thirds of a S'more. So really, this is a combination of Chocolate Lucky Charms and Honey Maid S'mores (not Kellogg's Smorz, because that cereal has chocolate-covered graham crackers), which are two of my favorite cereals. Which of the two it tastes more like really just depends on the combination of ingredients in your bowl (my box was top-loaded with marshmallows). Either way, I love it! I wonder what they'll put graham crackers in next year. Marshmallow Cocoa Pebbles would be a good choice.

The picture on the back of the box is pretty.

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Could be a little more flavorful.