Lucky Charms JUMBO Rainbows

Name: Lucky Charms Jumbo Rainbows
Variation: Lucky Charms
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: While it's as good an excuse as any to have a [Giant Size] box of Lucky Charms, I doubted whether having jumbo rainbow marshmallows was enough of a reason to give this cereal its own review. My opinion on Lucky Charms (which is one of my lifelong favorites) is well-documented, so the only thing in question is what effect, if any, these jumbo marshmallows have on my experience of eating it.

"Wherever you dream to go, it's possible with Lucky's jumbo rainbow!" Since the regular rainbow charm already gives Lucky the power to teleport, I'm interpreting the jumbo charm to give Lucky the power to teleport to places he's never been before (to boldly go...). Unless the idea is that he can teleport to fantastical places located in the realm of pure imagination? General Mills, please clarify.

Anyway, it's a pretty superficial modification - every once in a while, you'll get a bite with a larger marshmallow. It's not the best, but also not the worst novelty marshmallow I've seen in Lucky Charms. The size difference does disrupt the cereal's uniformity somewhat, so I don't expect it'll stick around (do they ever?). But it is nice to dig into the cereal and get a stronger impression of "rainbows!" than usual.

For better or worse (your mileage may vary), General Mills has managed to emphasize rainbows with this cereal, without tying it to gay pride. I support gay pride (and silence on this issue can speak volumes in this day and age); but I also recognize that, as a meteorological phenomenon, rainbows aren't intrinsically gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But I believe they deserve to maintain a life outside of gay pride, too.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Blue-grey and marshmallow-y (like the sky after it rains).

Honey Nut Cheerios Minis

Name: Honey Nut Cheerios Minis
Variation: Honey Nut Cheerios
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Didn't I tell you we'd be seeing this cereal before long? So far, all the Minis cereals have been in the form of puffs (with only Lucky Charms standing out, with its mini marshmallows); despite being nothing more than a smaller version of the regular cereal (unlike Cinnamon Toast Crunch, which changed size and shape), these Minis are unique in that they come in the form of shrunken loops. And they are predictably adorable.

How does it taste? Just as you would expect. The only difference is that the smaller loops give it a different mouthfeel, and absorb the milk faster. It's softer, and not as crunchy, with more of a continuous texture, as opposed to being distinct bites of flavor. In graphical terms, a higher resolution yields a smoother picture. But in terms of taste, I feel like there's less character. It's a cute novelty, but I still prefer the original size.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Tastes of sweet, nutty honey.

Now, will we ever see Cookie Crisp Minis? I doubt it, just going by how rarely Cookie Crisp entertains novelty concepts (last year's Guardians of the Galaxy promotion was a rare exception). But I hope so! I'll be keeping my eyes open.

Frosted Mini Wheats Little Bites (Original & Chocolate)

Name: Frosted Mini Wheats Little Bites Original
Variation: Frosted Mini Wheats
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: I think it's safe to assume that this cereal is going to taste just like regular Frosted Mini Wheats (which you shouldn't be surprised to learn that I don't like). The point of this review, then, will be to determine how I feel about the smaller size of the biscuits (as well as lay a groundwork for me to review the chocolate version of Little Bites, which is what I really wanted to do).

I don't have a lot of experience eating Frosted Mini Wheats, so when I see the size of these biscuits, to me they look like pretty standard size cereal biscuits. So I think that maybe regular Frosted Mini Wheats are just too big. As far as fitting them in your mouth, I think these Little Bites are an improvement. Unfortunately, it's still Frosted Mini Wheats, so I can't say that I like it. I mean, the frosting is actually good, but it's not worth eating shredded wheat when there are other frosted cereals on the market.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Plain and wheat-y.

Name: Frosted Mini Wheats Little Bites Chocolate
Variation: Frosted Mini Wheats
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: If ever there will be a version of Frosted Mini Wheats that I rate higher than one bowl, I imagine it would be this one. That's what I'm thinking going in to this. It's do or die.

The chocolate and frosting looks pleasant. Almost like a dusting of snow on the ground. But it's still just a flavor covering up a base of shredded wheat. I like the flavor - as I have with pretty much every variety of Frosted Mini Wheats I've tried so far. But I don't like the shredded wheat. And I haven't tried a flavor yet that I liked so much it was worth eating shredded wheat for, especially when you can get those flavors (even things like Cinnamon Roll and Pumpkin Pie Spice) in other cereals. Chocolate is certainly no exception.

If I were being forced under duress to eat Frosted Mini Wheats, this is probably the flavor I would prefer to have. But it's not an experience I would initiate voluntarily. Even Chocolate Frosted Flakes is better than this cereal - and that cereal has the benefit of actually turning the milk chocolate.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: not as wheat-y as other flavors of this cereal, but still very plain.

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!

Froot Loops Mega Mix-Ups

Name: Froot Loops Mega Mix-Ups
Variation: Froot Loops
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: Aptly described on the box as "classic Froot Loops with jumbo Froot Loops mixed in", this variation follows Froot Loops' recent Color Mix-Ups. I would have been interested to try a box of just jumbo Froot Loops - it would have made for a good contrast to General Mills' Minis lineup this year (although a box of mini Froot Loops would be fun, too). The flavor doesn't provide any surprises - this is just Froot Loops, but with the occasional textural variation of the jumbo loops. Like Reese's Big Puffs, they're a bit cumbersome in your mouth. I had more fun with this novelty than Color Mix-Ups (which was a hot mess), but I still wouldn't say it's an improvement over regular Froot Loops, which are already very good (and even better with marshmallows!).

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: A little sweet & fruity.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch & Trix Minis

Name: Cinnamon Toast Crunch Minis
Variation: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Once again, you have the classic Cinnamon Toast Crunch flavor. The texture of the puffs is not unpleasant, but again, I find I prefer the mouthfeel and the crunch of the regular Cinnamon Toast Crunch pieces. And do these mini puffs absorb more milk, or is it just me? It occurs to me that these Minis would work great as a topping - over ice cream or cupcakes or something like that.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Good and cinnamon-y.

Name: Trix Minis
Variation: Trix
Manufacturer: General Mills

Trix is the most colorful of the Minis cereals - it really is quite photogenic. It's the only cereal I've encountered that could, visually, give Fruity Pebbles a run for its money. Digging into them feels almost like jumping into a ball pit. This might be the only Minis cereal I like better than its regular-sized version (even if, being fruity, it's my least favorite-tasting one of the three).

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Pink and fruity.

The back of each box of Minis contains a punch-out mini kitchen that you can put together. I enjoyed having these mini cereals, even if Trix is the only one that I feel stands up to the original. I like that they picked a good variety of flavors - one chocolate and peanut butter, one cinnamon, and one fruity (and they're surprisingly good all mixed together). That's more diverse representation than either Kellogg's or General Mills' Halloween lineups!

Reese's Puffs Minis (& Big Puffs)

Name: Reese's Puffs Minis/Big Puffs
Variation: Reese's Puffs
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: This weekend I'm reviewing this year's new "Minis" cereals - mini versions of three of your favorites from the General Mills lineup. We'll start with Reese's Puffs Minis, since Reese's Puffs is one of my favorites. To start off, the mini puffs are adorable. The flavor is just what you would expect from the regular cereal, so no surprises there. Smaller puffs means you can shovel more of them into your mouth. However, I don't think the crunch is as satisfying, and you may have to slow yourself down to avoid swallowing them whole...

January 2020

A few years ago, General Mills released an over-sized version of Reese's Puffs, called Big Puffs. It was a fun novelty, but I felt the overly large puffs were a bit awkward to eat. Now, having tried both Big Puffs and Minis, I can say with confidence that the regular-sized puffs are the Goldilocks standard. That said, I enjoy mixing things up every now and then. Stay tuned for my review of Cinnamon Toast Crunch & Trix Minis tomorrow!

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: A little bit of PB&C.