Author: Brandon

REVIEW: Post Limited Edition Mint Chip Oreo O’s Cereal

Brandon Leave a comment

Cookie-based cereal is far from new. Cookie Crisp, the gold standard, has been filling our mornings with sweet, sweet sugar since 1977. In that almost half-century, it has tried its hand at multiple iterations—oatmeal, peanut butter, and sprinkles, to name a few.

Oreo O’s cereal, which came out 20 years later, is a relative youngster by comparison. It disappeared for a bit—well, everywhere except for South Korea—but came back in 2017. Over the years, Oreo has also messed about a bit by featuring an LTO Golden Oreo version and a “Mega Stuf” variety that incorporates creme-flavored marshmallows. But that’s it.

It’s interesting to me that a product known for endless flavors has been fairly conservative regarding the cereal version. Well, maybe the tide is turning, beginning with Mint Chip. In case you missed it, Mint Chip is the Oreo flavor of the moment. It is currently on shelves in cookie form and now as a cereal. So, is the cereal good enough to warrant branching out with new cereal varieties?

Here’s the deal — this cereal is quite minty. But unlike the deplorable Froot Loops Sherbet Scoops cereal I begrudgingly consumed for my last review (in case you missed it, it’s designed to “cool” your mouth), the mint here actually made sense. It was subtler than the mint of a Mint Oreo cookie but still noticeable and moderately enjoyable. (Really, how much you enjoy the mint in these is entirely contingent on how much you enjoy mint, you know?) I cannot, however, understand how this was mint chip and not just regular mint; the mint “flavor crystals,” for lack of a better term, were of a little “chippier” texture than the rest of the cereal, so, maybe that’s it. (Note: I have not tried the Mint Chip Cookie, though Sean recently reviewed it.)

The chocolate—which purports to be made of real Oreo cookie pieces—was predictably Oreo-wafer-like in taste. (That said, I don’t know how distinct the chocolate Oreo wafer taste truly is. It’s really when combined in concert with the creme that we get the cookie’s real essence.)

One thing that surprised me was how these held up in milk. The last bite was truly as crunchy as the first, a quality that is both terrifying and wonderful. On the one hand, I wish all of my favorite cereals had this sustainability, but I also shudder to think what petrification may be occurring with my internal organs.

While I found these Mint Chip Oreo O’s to be perfectly fine, I don’t feel compelled enough to buy them again. Now, if they’re interested in trying out a peanut butter version—peanut butter being the best Oreo variant by far—then sign me up.

Purchased Price: $4.93
Size: 16.5 oz box
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 160 calories, 2 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 210 milligrams of sodium, 34 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 17 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Kellogg’s Froot Loops Rainbow Sherbet Scoops Cereal

Brandon 5 Comments

Who among us hasn’t been eating our fruity children’s breakfast cereal and thought, “This cereal is fine, but what it really needs is to taste more like sherbet and also maybe a little like a menthol cigarette”? Plenty of us, apparently, because Kellogg’s is breaking out the Mentholation Machine first employed in last year’s ICEE Cereal.

And so although this isn’t the first cereal to use the “Cools Your Mouth!” gimmick, and it isn’t the first to use a “sherbet” twist (Post unleashed Ice Cream Pebbles on an unsuspecting public in 2015), what it’s got going for it is that it could be the worst type of cereal in both categories. Kellogg’s knows it’s important to have goals!

First, it’s vital to remember that these are Froot Loops, only in spherical form. Except that these taste nothing like regular Froot Loops. They’re closer to Trix, I think, except less fruity. In short, they are vaguely artificially fruit-like in nature. The pieces are indiscernible in terms of fruit type, which feels like a shortcoming when compared to regular Froot Loops rings; all of the balls taste the same.

Nothing about these say “sherbet,” either. It’s just multigrain cereal, through and through.

Which leaves us, I suppose, with the real attraction -— the mouth-cooling special effect. Does it work? How cool does your mouth get? What’s the point of all this?

So, when I first opened the bag and popped a few pieces dry into my mouth, I was horrified. It tasted as though someone had applied a fine misting of Icy Hot to my cereal. It didn’t burn my mouth, but it was gross and confusing. I let my 10-year-old daughter try it, and she said, “Um,

what IS that?

Weird. I don’t really like it. Can I have 20 more minutes of iPad time, please?”

I didn’t get a chance to revisit the cereal for a couple of days (clearly, I wasn’t clamoring for more), but when I did, I tried it in a bowl with milk. It grew soggy quicker than most other multigrain-based cereals and also seemed to lose any of the previously noticeable “Froot” flavor. Gone too was the “menthol” taste, but what was interesting was that I did notice a distinct “mouth cooling” feel after the first spoonful. It was unpleasant, like brushing my teeth and then immediately consuming food. I didn’t finish my bowl, and I have no desire to eat more. (Which, thanks, Target, for only having this available in the SUPER MEGA FAMILY SIZE!)

I don’t know why this cereal was made. It was a mistake, like Frankenstein’s monster or a barbwire bicep tattoo, and while I’d like to think Kellogg’s will learn its lesson and stop getting weird with food science, I’ve been in this business long enough to know this simply isn’t true.

Purchased Price: $4.76 (on sale)
Size: 12.4 oz box
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 3 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 1/3rd cup) 140 calories, 1 gram of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 230 milligrams of sodium, 45 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber, 11 grams of sugar (including 11 grams of added sugar), and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Tombstone Tavern Style Thin Crust Pizza

Brandon 7 Comments

Living in Chicago taught me a few important things. 1) Your eyelashes can (and will) freeze together much easier than you’d expect them to, 2) “dibs” on parking spots is a very divisive, very serious thing, and 3) the best pizza isn’t the Chicago deep dish (which, I know, I know, some don’t consider “pizza” at all) but is instead the thin, crunchy crusted, party-cut, tavern-style pie.

But what if you’re not in Chicago? Well, I’m sure you have at least one local place that tries their hand at it. Even still, if you’re like me, you like to have a frozen pizza or two on standby for an easy, cheap dinner. And if you’re even MORE like me, a general frozen pizza guideline is, “The less crust, the better.” With the exception of the best frozen pizza, period (Motor City Pizza Co.), most frozen pizza crust, to put it bluntly, sucks. That’s why I was excited when I spotted Tombstone’s new Tavern Style Thin Crust Pizza.

Tombstone tends to be one of my preferred options when it comes to the low-end of frozen pizza. The crust isn’t too thick, the sauce isn’t applied too heavily, and the pepperoni version uses round slices and the little cubed kind. When they’re on sale, and I notice it, I’ll pick one up. Would I buy the new Tavern Style again? Eh. Probably not for more than a couple of bucks.

It’s offered in two versions: The Primo, featuring pepperoni, sausage, red onions, and banana peppers, and the one I tried for this review, the Let’s Meat Up (a brief aside about products everywhere using puns for names these days: what’s the deal?) featuring pepperoni, pork belly crumbles, and, in addition to mozzarella, cheddar cheese (The Primo only has mozz). The website copy further suggests that the sauce is “zesty” and the crust is “buttery.”

While I wouldn’t necessarily call the sauce “zesty,” it was mildly noticeable. It tasted like generic frozen pizza sauce. The crust was in no way buttery. It was bland and inoffensive, but it held up fine under the weight of the… okay, there was no weight to the pizza. The pepperoni— which was your run-of-the-mill round Tombstone pepperoni— was sparse. So, too, was the application of “pork belly crumbles,” which were salty and crispy. They reminded me, for better or worse, of pre-cooked bacon crumbles you get in a bag to put on a salad. I enjoyed their presence, as they were the only thing keeping this from being a completely pedestrian and unmemorable frozen pizza. The cheese types were indistinguishable from one another; you could’ve paid me a thousand dollars, and I’d have never been able to tell you it had mozzarella AND cheddar.

I’m willing to bet these will be quickly gone, like your dibs in some neighborhoods, and not exactly missed, like the sensation of your eyes freezing together on the Montrose Brown line platform at 7 a.m. in the middle of January.

Purchased Price: $5.99 (on sale)
Size: 19.8 oz
Purchased at: Hy-Vee
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/4 pizza) 350 calories, 19 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 870 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 5 grams of sugar (including 5 grams of added sugar), and 15 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Pepsi Peach

Brandon 11 Comments

I think I’ve said it before on this website, but I’ll repeat it for those who don’t meticulously consume each of my reviews like the delightfully greasy bacon-double cheeseburgers of words that they are: I love flavored Coke. And by “Coke,” I mean, soda, and by “flavored,” I mean, well, you know… something other than the soda’s normal base.

But I don’t discriminate by soda type. I love the Strawberries and Cream Dr Pepper, as well as the Cream Soda version. I like Sprite when it gets weird with Cherries or Cranberries. Cherry Vanilla Coke is incredible, and I still lament the fact that poor sales (maybe?) killed its Orange Vanilla brethren. And Mango Pepsi is the best Pepsi.

And so it was with great anticipation and arousal that I awaited the appearance of Pepsi Peach at a retailer near me. I was so excited, in fact, that when I finally spotted it at my local QuikTrip, I went ahead and got it EVEN THOUGH they didn’t have the zero sugar version, which, in the case of all the aforementioned sodas, is generally my go-to.

Was it everything I hoped for?

Sadly, it was not.

If you don’t want to read a lengthy explanation, just know this: if you blindfolded me and had me drink this, I’d be extremely hard-pressed to tell you what soda flavor this was. The end.

But I’ll go a little further if you’re into details. The scent you get when opening the bottle is very identifiably peach, which makes the absence of actual peach flavoring all the more puzzling. I took a drink— riding high on hope and scent— and then went, “Wait, what?” But the thing is, this doesn’t taste like straight-up Pepsi, either. It’s Pepsi, but it’s a little sweeter than usual, and there’s a unique aftertaste that sets it apart as well. But at no point in the consumption process did I think, “Mmmm, peachy!” It was just mildly fruity.

And that’s a shame, really, given the way they do a great job capturing mango flavor. I was expecting so much more.

While it’s not bad, per se, it’s also not what it’s supposed to be. If it had been marketed as “General Fruit Pepsi,” it would have made so much more sense. I’d buy it again, I guess, if I was ever in a situation where I couldn’t find Mango Pepsi. Or Strawberries and Cream Dr Pepper. Or Cherry Vanilla Coke. Or… you get the idea.

Purchased Price: $2.50
Size: 20 oz
Purchased at: Quiktrip
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 250 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 55 milligrams of sodium, 68 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 68 grams of sugar (including 68 grams of added sugar), and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Cinnamon Toast Crunch Waffle Cereal

Brandon 5 Comments

Quite recently, on this web page, I spent a few hundred words bemoaning the Cinnamon Toast Crunch Committee’s efforts at integrating its product into places it maybe didn’t belong. The product of my focused ire in this specific instance was its attempt at crossbreeding its fine cereal product with Old El Paso taco shells. As part of my hard-hitting expose, I also mentioned its failures related to soft-baked cereal bars and peculiarly large “Stuft” marshmallows.

Garbage, all.

The good news about the new Cinnamon Toast Crunch Waffle cereal, though, is that it is, in no uncertain terms, a cereal. And if there’s one thing Cinnamon Toast Crunch shines at, it is being cereal. In fact, at any given moment, it is a Top 3 cereal. Maybe even Number 1. And its offshoots — for not being straight-up, dyed-in-the-wool CTC — are reasonably decent. The little balls they made were okay. The Rolls, various Leche(s), and French Toast riffs are all above average.

So what of this new Cinnamon Toast Crunch Waffle cereal?

The website acts like this is simply alternatively shaped CTC. It states, “Cinnamon Toast Crunch Waffle Cereal pairs epic cinnamon-sugar CINNADUST with crispy cereal pieces shaped like mini waffles. The whole wheat and corn cereal delights taste buds with real cinnamon and a crispy crunch.” But here’s the deal: I absolutely detect waffle flavoring in here as well. There’s a syrup-like undertone at the beginning and back end of each bite, and the whole shebang is covered in a ton of heavenly Cinnadust seasoning. It is, simply put, incredible. It took a lot of willpower to not eat more than one large bowl in my initial serving. It was just that delicious.

If I have one minor quibble — something that keeps this from being a perfect 10 — it’s that structurally, it doesn’t hold up well to milk. And on account of this is a cereal and all, that’s kind of problematic. This stuff gets soggy QUICK. Not inedibly soggy, no, but the crispness is deflated by a solid 65% within 30 seconds of a milk bath. On any lesser cereal, this would be a much bigger deal, but because this stuff was so good, all it did was make me eat it as fast as humanly possible.

I don’t know if General Mills intends on keeping this around as a regular offering or not, so my suggestion is to get several boxes now, and freeze-dry the ones that you… oh, who am I kidding— there’s no saving this stuff for later. Eat and enjoy while you can.

Purchased Price: $4.93
Size: 18.2 oz
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (41 grams) 170 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 210 milligrams of sodium, 32 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar (including 10 grams of added sugar), and 2 grams of protein.