New cereal sighting: Sprinkles Cookie Crisp

June 24, 2009

Anyone tried it? Send in your reviews, folks!

Posted by Randy at 10:49am
5 Comments »

Total Cinnamon Crunch cereal review

March 26, 2009

The Big G recently introduced a strange new addition to their Total line called Total Cinnamon Crunch.  This new cereal might be described as a re-branded, more health conscious, less fun version of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Although it looks very much the same as the classic kid’s cereal, each piece is smaller in size and more densely packed. You can taste the fiber in this cereal, and would choke if you try eating it dry.

Flavor-wise it was just… okay. It’s no way near as tasty as Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but if you’re looking for an alternative that’s packed with enough vitamins to rival a bottle of Centrum, then give it a shot.

Technorati Tags: cereal, Total, review, cinnamon crunch

Posted by Randy at 5:00am
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Banana Nut Cheerios cereal review

January 15, 2009

Yet ANOTHER variety of Cheerios??  It seems the crew at Big G will never run out of ideas when it comes to Cheerios.  Fortunately, their latest offering is simply awesome.

When I saw Banana Nut Cheerios in the cereal aisle, it sounded good — but I was suspicious.  I immediately imagined an artifical banana flavoring, like you might find in cheap Halloween candy.  Instead, I was treated to a natural banana and nut taste, baked into each little O.  I mean, it literally tastes like banana nut pancakes or banana nut muffins.

Hats off to the Cheerios team.

Technorati Tags: cereal, cheerios, review, banana nut

Posted by Randy at 10:09am
2 Comments »

MixMyGranola cereal review

January 02, 2009

MixMyGranola.com is a nifty Web 2.o website that lets you create your own custom granola mix and have it FedExed to your door. I got hit by the MixMyGranola PR blitz a couple weeks ago, and was invited to try their product.

The site uses an intuitive 3-step ordering process featuring some great looking images of their many ingredients. And I mean MANY. We’re talking 3 different granola bases, 16 different fruits, 17 different nuts/seeds, and 17 different “extras” (candy ingredients, mostly). They also have 4 Pre-Mixes for the timid and unadventurous.

I created what I called the Cereal Buzz Blend, consisting of French Vanilla Granola, Dried Plums, Dried Bing Cherries, Dried Blueberries, Organic Banana Chips, Pecans, Organic Soy Beans, Chai Seeds, Hemp Seeds, and Pomegranate Cordials. Sounds good, right? Well, not exactly. I’ll tell you why in a minute.

The 16 oz. mix was delivered in about a week from Florida to California. This was during the peak of the busy holiday season mind you, so not bad. It comes sealed in a white cardboard canister (think Pringles can, only much healthier).

Overall, I’m impressed with the service and happy with the quality of the ingredients. But here’s the problem: the 16 oz. total is divided equally between each ingredient. So I had the same weight in hemp and chai seeds as I did cherries and blueberries. Unfortunately, instead of enjoying my custom blend, I felt like I was eating a bowl of birdseed! I had to throw in some good ol’ Honey Bunches of Oats to fill it out.

So MixMyGranola, I know you’re reading this. Let me specify how many ounces of each ingredient I want out of the total 16, then you’ll have a winner.

Visit MixMyGranola

Technorati Tags: cereal, granola, review, mixmygranola

Posted by Randy at 6:46pm
1 Comment »

mental_floss after every bowl

December 18, 2008

Check out this excellent article by Ian Lender of mental_floss magazine, titled “How Cereal Transformed American Culture.”  The article spans the history of breakfast cereal, from its health conscious beginnings to its modern commercialization aimed at kids.  Good stuff.

Technorati Tags: cereal, mental_floss, magazine

Posted by Randy at 6:19am
No Comments »

Cocoa Puffs not up to snuff?

July 23, 2007

CerealBuzzer Tony Wisneske writes in to ask General Mills and his fellow cereal lovers about the current state of Coca Puffs…

I sent an email to General Mills about Cocoa Puffs that read the following:

“For the last couple years I’ve noticed a change in the taste of Cocoa Puffs cereal. And this is not a better change.

I’ve looked at older pictures of Cocoa Puffs boxes and noticed that they say they’re “made with Hershey’s Cocoa.” Have you stopped using Hershey’s chocolate? I looked at a box I recently bought and could not find Hershey’s name anywhere.

Or is there some other reason why the taste has changed? Have you reduced the amount of sugar from the recipe? Did you increase some of the vitamins to make it more healthy but less tasty?”

I just sent it so I haven’t had a reply back.
So what do you think? Am I crazy or did the taste really change? I remember last year I had one box that tasted like it used to but then the next box tasted bad like it usually does nowadays.

So what do you think, boys and girls? Is Tony right? Do Cocoa Puffs taste more like Caca Puffs to you lately? Has their recipe changed for the worse? Is it true, Big G?

Technorati Tags: cereal, Cocoa Puffs, Hershey’s, chocolate

Posted by Randy at 5:11am
13 Comments »

Reader review: Life Chocolate Oat Crunch

April 15, 2007

Hello Cereal Buzz readers! It’s been a while since I last posted here. Where have I been? Well, I’ve been distracted by a couple of other projects, namely Chachi and the MCDST and MCSA exams. The Cereal Buzz blog was left behind, and I figured the big Trix story was a good way to end it.

I’m pleased to note that during my absence, readership has remained steady. In fact, Jim Rayball from Cranford, NJ wrote in with his own cereal review:

Recently a box of Life Chocolate Oat Crunch appeared in our cereal cabinet, courtesy of my wife. It was meant for one of the kids probably, but I gave it a try (of course).

As background, it is widely known among cereal aficionados that the “classic” old-school chocolate-flavored cereals such as Count Chocula and Cocoa Krispies are well-loved and respected. They have a unique “cereal-sweet” chocolate taste that yields delicious chocolate milk in your bowl. Some don’t like them, but they deservedly have their fans. They have a consistent chocolatey taste that holds a niche in the marketplace.

Over the past 5-7 years, however, various cereals have arrived on the scene with chunks of real chocolate added. For the most part, these have been a disaster (e.g.: Special K Chocolatey Delight), with waxy chocolate that doesn’t sync with the cereal.

Life’s venture into this arena, however, is a hit. The classic Life gain/oat square is present, with the unique large sugar crystals embedded in the cereal square. Smartly, the chocolate is mixed with crunchy, oaty chunks that taste good and blend well with the chocolate flavor. The result is almost Granola-bar like, meaning that the flavors blend well together.

There appear to be dark and light chocolate bits mixed in with the oat clusters, but overall the chocolate and oat crunches complement and taste good with the standard Life cereal squares.

My preference for this cereal is dry, with no milk, but that holds for all Life varieties.

Give this one a try … you may be pleasantly surprised.

Jim Rayball
Cranford, NJ
Cereal Fan

Thanks for the review, Jim! Now, I’d like to hear from the rest of you as well. I know there are a lot of great writers out there, so send in your reviews, essays, whatever. Help keep Cereal Buzz alive!

Technorati Tags: Life, Chocolate, cereal, review

Posted by Randy at 10:56am
3 Comments »

Trix Balls CONFIRMED

February 17, 2007

Although I stood optimistic when early reports started to hit the net in early December, I wasn’t going to believe it until I was able to see it myself:

There it is, sitting atop my shiny white microwave where I shoot all my cereal boxes. My pics are usually cropped tighter, but it seems more real this way.

It looked and tasted just like classic Trix, pre-1992. A small victory has been won. I did indeed take the day off to celebrate, just as any self-made cereal-lovin’ individual should.

Technorati Tags: cereal, trix, balls, new shape

Posted by Randy at 8:23am
19 Comments »

Full speed ahead for Breakfast of the Gods!

January 23, 2007

Ah, the best part about blogging cereal has been my discovery of the web comic (er, I mean “graphic novel”) Breakfast of the Gods. Since my last post about Gods, not even a month ago, Brendan Douglas Jones has added 3 new pages to his incrementally unfolding work of art. Not bad, Brendan! Keep up the pace!

Here are my favorite panels from the latest installments:

Technorati Tags: cereal, Breakfast of the Gods, comics, graphic novel

Posted by Randy at 11:52pm
3 Comments »

Cocoa Krispies Choconilla cereal review

January 14, 2007

I was very close to giving up on my semi-weekly cereal reviews. Cereal ain’t free, and having to eat a whole box of cereal every week is bad for my diet.

Then I saw Cocoa Krispies Choconilla AND Rice Krispies with Real Strawberries — two brand new flavors — stacked together on an end cap at the supermarket. I could not resist. I had to try one of them.

I’ve always been amazed by how often a new cereal variety is invented by the food scientists and marketing geniuses at Kellogg’s, Big G, and the rest. I mean they come out with new shit every month. Sometimes it’s bad, but other times it’s great.
I chose to buy Cocoa Krispies Choconilla. Big mistake.

Choconilla is awful. It’s just frosted Krispies, but some of them are brown. There’s also this artificial choco flavor that tastes and smells like leftover Tootsie Rolls from Halloween 1998. The thing is, regular Cocoa Krispies taste so much better because they use real cocoa and semi-sweet chocolate. This Choconilla garbage doesn’t… it’s all artificial. Why Kellogg’s, why?

My advice: buy a box of regular Cocoa Krispies and a box of Frosted Rice Krispies and mix them yourself.

Technorati Tags: cereal, Cocoa Krispies, Rice Krispies, Choconilla, review

Posted by Randy at 5:56pm
9 Comments »