While some cereals churn out new varieties all the time, Toucan Sam has mostly been content to stay in his lane, or should I say loop, for sixty years. There have occasionally been marshmallows added, or the rings swapped for hearts for Valentine’s Day, but the fruity essence has remained largely the same until now. A new iteration, Cocoa Loops, has arrived on shelves and is slated to be a permanent addition to the Kellogg’s lineup. This feels overdue, but perhaps it took this long to perfect things?

The box features a delighted Sam along with his niece and nephews, stirring up some liquidy-looking chocolate batter that looks like it should become brownies, but the crew is somehow able to use their feather-fingers to form it into tiny hoops. There’s a pleasant cocoa scent upon opening the bag, not overwhelming but enough to let you know it’s a chocolate cereal. When eaten on its own, the cocoa flavor doesn’t come through as much as I’d like, and I don’t enjoy the chalky experience of eating it dry.

Cereal is one of the easiest foods to assemble, since it basically only requires you to pour it into a bowl and add milk. But I know there are a lot of people out there who, due to laziness or personal preference, sometimes skip the milk component. If you’re looking for a cereal to snack on by the handful, keep looking cause this isn’t it. But that’s not a deal breaker, let’s try it with milk!

Cocoa Loops fares so much better with this addition. When given the chance to mingle with milk for a few moments, the corn and oat-based loops soften to a nice texture and aren’t quick to sog. The chocolate flavor is more pronounced, and it’s a big improvement, but I still don’t think I’d choose it over already established chocolate favorites in the aisle. The box declares that it “makes milk chocolatey!”, and as with most chocolate cereals, if you truly want to experience chocolate milk flavor and not just milk that’s a slightly darker shade, you’ll have to let that bowl sit around for a while.

I’m unsure if it’s intentionally goofy in the name of being “loopy,” but I have to mention some bizarre aspects of the box art. We have one nephew sounding like a Bluey knockoff by introducing himself as Pluey, and according to a heart-shaped craft project on the kitchen shelf, these kids refer to their uncle as “Uncle Toucan Sam”. I get that they can’t call him Uncle Sam without sounding like they’re talking about the familiar red, white, and blue-clad figure, but something about this moniker seems strange and redundant. Cocoa Loops with milk are a perfectly acceptable but not especially remarkable cereal. Without milk, I think these are for the birds.

Purchased Price: $6.99
Size: 9.2 oz box
Purchased at: Mariano’s
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 ¼ cup) 140 calories, 2 grams of total fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 210 milligrams of sodium, 32 grams of total carbohydrates, 4 grams of dietary fiber, 12 grams of total sugars, and 2 grams of protein.