Cocoa Puffs

Name: Cocoa Puffs
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: As basic a chocolate cereal as you can get, this has always been one of my favorites. It's a shame I hardly ever get to eat it anymore, on account of all the novelty cereals I have to keep up with. And sadly, Cocoa Puffs doesn't indulge a lot of novelty variations (although the few I've seen - such as Hot Cocoa Puffs, Brownie Crunch, and even Ice Cream Scoops - are among my all-time favorites). My first bite into this cereal had me savoring that familiar cocoa flavor. And who wouldn't love being left with a bowl of chocolate milk? So simple, yet so effective. By the way, this cereal tastes really good with fresh strawberries cut up into it - I can't believe I never thought to try that before!

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Chocolate!

Cocoa Puffs/Trix/Cinnamon Toast Crunch LOADED

This Memorial Day weekend you're getting not one, not even two, but three cereal reviews! It's a threefer!

General Mills is taking a page from the Kellogg's Krave playbook this year, by stuffing three of its flagship cereals with vanilla crème. As an aside, I wish we could agree on whether to call it "cream" or "crème", because I never know whether to use the American or the French pronunciation. (Also, is it "crescent" or "croissant"? I studied French, so it's weird for me not to use the French pronunciation). A quick search of their differences would reveal that "crème" is just the French word for "cream", but the most plausible explanation I came across (no idea whether it's true), is that US law forbids non-dairy substitutes from being called "cream" - hence, "crème". It's like the difference between "cheese" and "cheese-flavored product". You know, that would make a lot of sense.

Anyway, as a chocolate lover, I don't really get excited about vanilla. I feel like it would be a good companion to Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but shouldn't Trix be loaded with a fruity filling, and Cocoa Puffs a chocolatey one? Maybe that would be too redundant, but doubling up isn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, it worked for Kellogg's Krave Double Chocolate Brownie Batter. Regardless, it sounds like a fun novelty, so let's give them a try!

Name: Cocoa Puffs LOADED
Variation: Cocoa Puffs, LOADED
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: These crème-filled biscuit shapes are definitely reminiscent of Kellogg's Krave cereal. You know, it's not bad. The chocolate shell is good, and even though the filling is vanilla, it adds a smoothness or a softness to each bite. It's kind of like a chocolate cupcake with vanilla icing. Certainly not the worst combination in the world. The leftover milk has the same problem as Krave or Frosted Mini Wheats, though. I don't know what it is about biscuit-shaped cereal, but somebody needs to learn how to get some flavor into that milk.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Looks chocolatey, but the flavor's more "biscuit-y".

Name: Trix LOADED
Variation: Trix, LOADED
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Well, these colors are not very impressive. They look worn and faded, and they can't even separate the red from the blue from the purple. Trix may not be as vivid as Fruity Pebbles, but I expect it to have a bright and colorful appearance (Exhibit A: Trix Minis). This isn't just disappointing, it's depressing! It's worse than Froot Loops Color Mix-Ups. Regardless, it has a decent fruity flavor, and once again, the vanilla "crème" filling gives the impression that you're eating cupcakes with frosting. I can't say that I love it, but I do appreciate that it's the most unique version of Trix I've ever seen. I like a novelty cereal that dares to experiment.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Speckled with some color, but still biscuit-flavored...

Name: Cinnamon Toast Crunch LOADED
Variation: Cinnamon Toast Crunch, LOADED
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: It looks like Cinnamon Toast Crunch - albeit in biscuit-form. The texture and mouthfeel is very different from the usual crunchy toasties - it's softer. But the buttery, cinnamon toast flavor is retained. And the filling is a good companion, as I suspected. I don't think I've ever spread vanilla frosting over a slice of cinnamon sugar toast, but that's basically what you're getting here. And I like it. Now, can you imagine a version of French Toast Crunch loaded with fruit filling? I don't know why General Mills hasn't recruited me yet...

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Good luck tasting the cinnamon over that biscuit flavor.

And, of course, I had to try them together. The biscuits are too big to really mix together and create an amalgamated flavor, so you get a different combination of flavors in every bite. Trix's fruity flavor definitely stands out the most. It's not unpleasant to eat, but it's an odd combination. I think I got better results mixing the Minis together.

Lucky Charms & Cocoa Puffs Minis

It was a fun surprise when I walked into stores this spring and discovered that General Mills had expanded its Minis lineup (initially launched last fall) to include Lucky Charms and Cocoa Puffs. Of course I had to try them!

Name: Lucky Charms Minis
Variation: Lucky Charms
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Trix may have been the most visually impressive of the Minis cereals, but Lucky Charms is the most structurally interesting, given that it has both mini puffs AND mini marshmallows (which are positively adorable!). The puffs give it more of a crunch than regular Lucky Charms (with a texture that is perhaps more akin to Marshmallow Clusters or Honey Clovers), but I'm afraid the marshmallows have not benefitted from this cereal being put under the shrink ray, as the balance has shifted subtly away from them. Still, it's a decent facsimile of the original cereal. Not an improvement, once again, but a fun novelty nonetheless.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: I detect notes of marshmallow and corn.

Name: Cocoa Puffs Minis
Variation: Cocoa Puffs
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: This is one of the more straightforward of the Minis cereals - like Reese's Puffs without the peanut butter. The only difference from the regular cereal is that the puffs have shrunk! It has a really good cocoa flavor, and I like the crisp crunchiness of the mini puffs; which, again, you have a tendency to want to shovel into your mouth. It's not flashy, but I think that, along with Trix (which IS flashy), I think this is one of the cereals that has benefitted most from the Minis treatment.

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Tastes like a chocolate syrup milkshake!

Once again, the backs of these boxes contain punch-out additions to the mini kitchens we've built before - adding an art room and a game room to our mini cereal mansion. And, because I did it last time, these two cereals taste great together, too! (It's basically Chocolate Lucky Charms Minis). I think these two were a worthy addition to the Minis lineup - I'm glad they expanded it. Come fall, will there be Cookie Crisp and Honey Nut Cheerios Minis on the shelves? I'd like to see that!

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.

[Flashback] Cocoa Puffs Brownie Crunch

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: Cocoa Puffs Brownie Crunch
Variation: Cocoa Puffs
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I stumbled upon this cereal last year while browsing the shelves at Gabe's, where you can sometimes find odd products that maybe didn't sell too well in more conventional venues. Although I can't imagine why these turned up there - they're incredible. Making Cocoa Puffs that taste like brownies (and they really do!) is one of those ideas so obviously brilliant that you have to wonder why it took them so long to come up with it (and why they're not more popular). I liked it so much I bought several boxes and then came back for more, until they were all gone. Now I fear I'll never see it again. And since I found Hot Cocoa Puffs this past winter, these (which I think I like even better) are bound to become my new Holy Grail.

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣

Hot Cocoa Puffs

Name: Hot Cocoa Puffs
Variation: Cocoa Puffs
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Four years ago, I found this cereal and decided it was the best thing ever. Adding marshmallows to Cocoa Puffs? It's so obvious! And calling it Hot Cocoa Puffs? Brilliant! (Although I don't recommend eating it hot). I was so enamored with it, that it became my Holy Grail. I've searched for it every winter since, but always in vain - until this year. It's back, and now sponsored by Swiss Miss - a name that screams hot cocoa!

January 2018

All that said, when you build something up in your mind, it's hard for the real thing to measure up. Not that I don't still love Hot Cocoa Puffs, but I think buying twelve bags of it was maybe a little excessive. Anyway, the cocoa pieces have a satisfying crunch to them, and you can't go wrong with chocolate and marshmallows, although the milk could be a little more chocolatey in the end. I'd definitely eat this cereal every winter; I just wish it was released more consistently.

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Slightly chocolatey.