[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: 🥣🥣

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.

Frute Brute

Name: Frute Brute
Variation: Monster Cereals
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: It occurred to me last year when I tried Monster Mash, that apart from Count Chocula, all the Monster Cereals are fruity. In their defense, they do all have marshmallows, but that's why Count Chocula is my favorite. Still, I was excited to see Frute Brute on the shelves this year, because it's one of the forgotten Monster Cereals that's hard to find, and I don't think I've ever tried it before (unless I was too young to remember). I was even more intrigued when I picked up the box and noticed that it's a cherry-flavored cereal*. Franken Berry suffers in that it has a lot of competition from other strawberry cereals on the market, and I think part of Boo Berry's appeal is the novelty of blueberry as a cereal flavor. Well, cherry has that novelty (maybe even more so), but it suffers from not being very distinguishable - at least visually - from strawberry.

As a matter of fact, when I opened my box of Frute Brute, I thought for a second that there had been a manufacturing error, because it looked exactly like Franken Berry. I guess I thought it would be a different shade of pink. Upon closer inspection, the marshmallows are different (orange, yellow, pink, and purple), and the cereal has a distinct cherry flavor. I like it better than Franken Berry. In fact, excluding Count Chocula, this might just be my favorite fruity Monster Cereal. I'm surprised it's not more popular*. To my disappointment, I saw stacks of boxes on clearance before the end of September (don't get me started on stores displaying Halloween products in August and liquidating them before even the start of October). For a second-tier Monster Cereal, I wasn't expecting Frute Brute to be very good, but it has exceeded my expectations!

Now I just need to get my hands on a box of Fruity Yummy Mummy...

*Some quick research has revealed that Fruit Brute (it used to be styled without the quirky misspelling) originally featured lime marshmallows, instead of being cherry-flavored (imagine combining those features for a cherry limeade cocktail!). I daresay this may have contributed to it being the first Monster Cereal to be discontinued. Which is unfortunate; I suspect it would have been more popular in its current formulation - but how will people know it's been improved? Besides, Frute Brute will never be able to compete with the name recognition of Franken Berry. If I were in charge of Monster Cereals, I would change Franken Berry to Franken Cherry, but I don't know how the rest of the cereal-loving world would feel about that.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: It's pink, but I was hoping for a stronger cherry flavor.