Honey Bunches of Oats - Chocolate

Name: Honey Bunches of Oats - Chocolate
Variation: Honey Bunches of Oats
Manufacturer: Post

Review: It's a stroke of luck that I just started trying out Honey Bunches of Oats not long before a Chocolate version appeared on the shelves (it doesn't say it's "new", but I haven't seen it before). And what a perfect successor to Vanilla! Made with "real chocolate and cocoa" (my emphasis), it looks a lot like Chocolate Frosted Flakes. The oat clusters are few and far between - I could almost forget that I'm eating Honey Bunches of Oats! It's not the most decadent chocolate cereal on the market, but it does have a good chocolate flavor - it's very creamy, like chocolate milk. As a chocolate cereal, it might not be my first pick, but in the hierarchy of Honey Bunches cereals, its easily among the varieties I've liked the most (along with Frosted Bunches and Real Strawberries). I'll consider it the lineup's redemption after Maple & Pecans.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: A deep, smoke-colored chocolate milk.

Friends - The One With The Vanilla Bean Latte

Name: Friends - The One With The Vanilla Bean Latte
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Before I even open the box, this cereal already has three strikes against it: 1) it's coffee-flavored, 2) it's vanilla (at least give me mocha!), and 3) it consists of flakes. Plus, I've always preferred Seinfeld to Friends. But I'm open-minded, so I'll give it a try. After all, everything rides on how it tastes.

It's very uniform - there are no clusters. And these whole wheat flakes look very dark. It tastes more of coffee than vanilla. It has a suprising amount of sugar (nearly as much as Honey Smacks), which contributes to its sweet flavor. It's not terrible, it just combines too many things I don't like to begin with.

As it happens, I just picked up a box of Frosted Flakes Chocolate Milkshake (a cereal with a very similar appearance) on clearance. So I'll be relieved to be able to wash the taste of vanilla coffee out of my mouth with some chocolate milkshake. Now, please, can there be a Seinfeld cereal? You could make it cinnamon babka flavored! It would be the perfect competitor to this.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Could save you a trip to Central Perk for your morning coffee.

Frosted Mini Wheats Cocoa

Name: Frosted Mini Wheats Cocoa
Variation: Frosted Mini Wheats
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: I haven't had the greatest experience with Frosted Mini Wheats so far - it just isn't my cereal. But I spotted this new Cocoa flavor, advertising that it "turns milk chocolatey". That's been one of my biggest complaints about these cereals in the past - they don't give the milk any kind of flavor. So I had to try it.

Still too chewy. Still don't like the taste or texture of the shredded wheat biscuits. Although, as usual, the chocolate they've flavored them with is good - but, like lipstick on a pig, it's just not enough. Same with the milk. It's a little chocolatey, but it'll never compare to the milk after a bowl of Cocoa Puffs, or Chocolate Frosted Flakes. I don't regret trying this cereal, but I don't see myself buying it again.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: There's a hint of cocoa. I guess.

Honey Bunches of Oats - Maple & Pecans

Name: Honey Bunches of Oats - Maple & Pecans
Variation: Honey Bunches of Oats
Manufacturer: Post

Review: Of all the varieties of Honey Bunches of Oats I've seen so far, this is the one I was looking forward to trying the least. I mean, it doesn't even sound appetizing (although the box is a pretty color). Experience has borne out that I'm not super fond of maple-flavored cereals (unless they have marshmallows), and pecans - well, I could take or leave any kind of nut in my cereal. I couldn't even say if I like them better or worse than almonds. Although maple is usually associated with sugary syrup, this cereal - like the others - isn't very sweet. The flavors are subtle, and mostly it just tastes plain. I've gained an appreciation for certain flavors of Honey Bunches of Oats over the past weeks - albeit in small doses - but I can't say this is one of them.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Flaky, and maple-flavored.

Cinnamon Bunches

Name: Honey Bunches of Oats - Cinnamon Bunches
Variation: Honey Bunches of Oats
Manufacturer: Post

Review: I'm not sure "cinnamon" is going to be enough of a flavor to redeem this cereal's plainness (it wasn't enough for Cheerios Oat Crunch), but I'm going to give it a try. I can taste the cinnamon, but it's subtle. The cereal's still not sweet enough. I'd put this one on par with Honey Roasted. I can tolerate it in small doses. But I won't miss it when it's gone. So far, the only versions I'd give the time of day are Frosted Bunches, and the one with Real Strawberries. And I don't think the next flavor I'm going to try is going to change that...

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Flaky, and specked with cinnamon.