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.