Cinnamon Toast Crunch has a long history of seasonal variants of its flagship cereal, and for the summer of 2026, it has introduced a new flavor: Root Beer Float.

(The box is decorated with red, white, and blue fireworks. Many companies this summer are introducing apple pie flavors for America250, so I’m a little surprised CTC didn’t rebrand its excellent Apple Pie Toast Crunch from fall/winter.)

I was a little skeptical because root beer and cereal don’t usually go together. But then again, I’ve enjoyed the other seasonal varieties.

And this was no exception!

Both dry and in milk, this cereal has a distinct root beer flavor. But it still has the usual cinnamon and wheat/rice grain flavor. There’s no mistaking the root beer, but it doesn’t clash with the other elements. The texture is the same as regular CTC: crunchy, softens in milk, doesn’t get soggy that fast.

As for the “float” part: I don’t taste a vanilla ice cream flavor, but it would be hard to detect something so mild along with the stronger flavors. But that doesn’t bother me. I figure the milk fills the creamy role of ice cream.

About that milk: I tried the cereal with both skim milk and 1 percent, and the 1 percent at the bottom of the bowl seemed to have a slightly stronger root beer flavor. But in either case, it wasn’t very profound, nothing like what you would get at the bottom of an actual root beer float. I’m not really disappointed, though; the cereal is the main attraction.

Root beer cereal sounds weird, but you needn’t be frightened. General Mills did a great job of making a cereal taste like root beer and still be enjoyable.

Purchased Price: $4.97
Size: 1 lb 2.8 oz box
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup) 170 calories, 4 grams total fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1 gram of polyunsaturated fat, 2.5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 250 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 12 grams of sugar (including 12 grams of added sugar), and 2 grams of protein.