Cheerios Oat Crunch Berry

Name: Cheerios Oat Crunch Berry
Variation: Cheerios
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: After hyping this cereal up in my own mind, it turned out to be an anticlimactic finish to my survey of the Oat Crunch lineup. The cereal has a slightly purple-ish cast, but there are no dried fruit bits like I was hoping for. The berry flavor is muted, but noticeable - it doesn't blast you with sweetness. Some would consider this a positive; I consider it a negative. It's a good flavor idea for this lineup, but it's not the runaway winner I thought it was gonna be. I think my favorite is still Almond, but again, that's not saying much. Now that I've done my due diligence, can I go back to eating Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch, please?

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: By the time you're finished eating the bowl, you won't even notice the subtle berry flavor in the milk.

Cheerios Oat Crunch Oats 'N Honey

Name: Cheerios Oat Crunch Oats 'N Honey
Variation: Cheerios
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I thought "Oat Crunch Oats 'N Honey" sounded kind of redundant, and there is an emphasis on the oats - like Multigrain Cheerios infused with oatmeal. The honey part is what I was looking forward to, since I think these cereals could be a lot sweeter. It's a subtle addition. I almost feel like this cereal would be better with raisins. I think Almond is still my favorite flavor (not that that's saying much), but I've saved what I predict to be the best (and also the newest) for last - Oat Crunch Berry. I can't wait to give it a try (and then be done with this lineup :-p).

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: More oat-y than sweet.

Cheerios Oat Crunch Cinnamon

Name: Cheerios Oat Crunch Cinnamon
Variation: Cheerios
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Having only ever had Cheerios Oat Crunch Almond before, this will be a chance to see what the core of the Oat Crunch lineup consists of. The Cheerios have that same "multigrain" look, and they're still infused with visible oat clusters. But instead of almonds, now there's cinnamon. Or at least there should be. I think the cinnamon needs to step up its game, because I can barely taste it (it was a little more noticeable the second bowl I had) - and this cereal needs something to give it some flavor. I actually miss the almonds. Turns out, this cereal has even less to offer me than Oat Crunch Almond did.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: I was hoping this was where all the cinnamon had gone, but it's actually fairly plain and oat-y.

Cheerios Oat Crunch Almond

Name: Cheerios Oat Crunch Almond
Variation: Cheerios
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I had tried this cereal once before, since I live with someone who is fond of almonds. When I noticed the release of a new flavor this year, I figured it would be a good time to give the Oat Crunch lineup a proper go. This cereal is very nutty. Right out of the box, it makes a strong visual impression - with lighter and darker Cheerios, and big slices of almonds.

In 2021, when it was new.

My impression then, as now, is that if I'm in the mood for a healthy-sounding cereal (I make no claim as to the actual nutritional value of these products), I prefer Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch. This cereal just isn't sweet enough for my tastes. But if it sounds good to you, do give it a try. I wonder if I'll like any of the other three flavors any better.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: It's a little nutty.

[Flashback] Lucky Charms Frosted Flakes

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: Lucky Charms Frosted Flakes
Variation: Lucky Charms
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: This year I got to try Cinnamon Toast Crunch Lucky Charms MIX!, which was fun. Five years ago (in the early months of 2018), I had Lucky Charms Frosted Flakes. Thinking back on it, I'm surprised they mixed Lucky Charms with Frosted Flakes, since the former is a General Mills cereal, and the latter belongs to Kellogg's. But looking at it now, I think they're using "frosted flakes" as a generic term.

In a similar turn, did you know that Kellogg's and Post both market a "Raisin Bran"?

Anyway, I don't remember what I thought of it then, but it looks good to me now, possibly because I've had some time to warm up to the concept of Frosted Flakes. And, at least this has marshmallows I know I like!

Rating: 🥣🥣

Frosted Flakes with Creeper Bit Marshmallows

Name: Frosted Flakes with Creeper Bit Marshmallows
Variation: Frosted Flakes
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: Although it's lacking in cinnamon, I suppose this is the replacement for Minecraft Creeper Crunch, which I don't see on shelves anymore. Once again, the marshmallows are pleasant shades of green. And it's fun that they're cube blocks, instead of being round. I'm still finding that Frosted Flakes are not an optimal cereal base for my tastes, but this is better than the styrofoam-y Creeper Crunch. And I like these marshmallows better than the vanilla ones. I'm kind of on the fence as to whether to give this cereal a rating of one bowl or two bowl, but since I like it better than both of the two closest cereals I could compare it to, I'm gonna go ahead and give it two.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: It's lookin' a little green!

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3

Name: Marvel Studios Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3
Variation: Cocoa Puffs
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: After all of these bland promotional cereals manufactured by Kellogg's and Post that I've been trying, this is a breath of fresh air. It's General Mills, and it's chocolate with marshmallows. You can't go wrong. It's basically Cocoa Puffs with marshmallows. The marshmallows, while adding a nice splash of color (that almost completes the rainbow), are tiny (like hot cocoa marshmallows), and don't add a lot of flavor to the cereal. But the base flavor is a solid cocoa, so I have no complaints. This is how you do a promotional cereal - choose a familiar flavor people will like, and just add a novel twist.

I was wondering why General Mills left out Cocoa Puffs when it emblazoned six of its flagship cereals (including Cookie Crisp, which never gets any novelty attention) with characters from the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie, but now I know why. I'm just disappointed this cereal disappeared from the shelves so fast.

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Cocoa-licious.

The Little Mermaid

Name: Disney The Little Mermaid: Mermazing Berry
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: To promote Disney's new live action adaptation, Kellogg's has produced a new version of The Little Mermaid cereal. It's supposed to be "Mermazing Berry", but while it smells fruity, it tastes rather bland. In fact, it looks just like the same stock cereal Kellogg's has recently used to promote Lightyear (minus the marshmallows) and Hocus Pocus 2 (with blue instead of purple stars). I don't know what the little green and purple specks are doing, because they don't seem to be adding any flavor.

Flip the box around and you'll get Ursula in place of Ariel. Seeing Supergirl on Strong Berry was a pleasant surprise, and Miraculous is perfectly poised for a double-sided box, but honestly it's a little annoying photographing cereal boxes with two front sides. In conclusion, the last attempt Kellogg's made at a Little Mermaid cereal wasn't very good either (to be fair), and this is just another disappointment. Who wants to guess what the next Disney movie Kellogg's will recycle this cereal yet again to promote?

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Fruitier than the cereal itself.