Ella Marcinkiewicz and Keira Lang

The four cereals chosen for review, all showing off their boxes.

Cereal is one of the most common go-to’s when it comes to breakfast. It is quick, easy and delicious. It is one of the rare foods where you can pick and choose what flavor you want. But have you ever been crazy enough to pick that one box in the supermarket that looks like it might be good? Probably not. We took that gamble and picked out four of the weirdest cereals we could find. By taking one for the team, here is our opinion on funky cereals. 

Before trying each cereal, we looked for certain characteristics in each box. These traits helped to determine whether it was worth buying.

Looks:

• What does it look like?
• Does it look appetizing? 
• What does the package look like? Is it eye-catching?

Smell:

• What does it smell like?
• Does it smell appealing?

Taste and Texture:

• What does it taste like?
• What does it feel like?

Oreo-O’s: $3.99

At this rate, we would not be surprised if Oreo had a product for everything. Undoubtedly, we had high hopes for this cereal after seeing the trademark blue packaging in cereal box form. The box itself had an enlarged bowl of cereal on the front and a basic design featuring traditional Oreo text font. 

After tearing open the box, we were met with a sweet smell. Almost… too sweet. It did not really smell like chocolate or like an Oreo; it just seemed really artificial. The smell was not the most unappetizing thing in the world, but it was a little concerning, considering it seemed like we would eat a bowl of sugar.   

After processing the smell of the cereal, we opened the bag and took a look. The cereal looked like a dark brown Froot Loop, a little larger than your basic circular cereal in width but not astronomical. It was not special besides the fact it had flecks of white and looked like it was glazed over. We assumed the speckles were to mimic the Oreo cookie’s cream filling. 

Despite the box advertising that it’d taste like the real Oreo, it was more of a traditional chocolate cereal. It resembled a Cocoa Puff because of it is sweetness. Next, we tried the cereal with milk, which was much tastier. The cereal itself seemed less sweet but turned our milk light brown. From what we could tell, the white flecks before had no purpose and melted off into the milk. Perhaps it was there to make your milk sweeter too. The texture was like your everyday crunchy cereal and, luckily did not get soggy fast.

All in all, the Oreo cereal was not too shabby, but we’d probably ignore it in the store next time. It was nothing special, but it also was not disgusting. We give this cereal a 6 out of 10 stars.

Peeps Cereal: $5.29

Initially, this cereal made us a little nervous. It was perplexing to comprehend a marshmallow brand making breakfast cereal. The box was very large and eye-catching, with bright colors and flying Peep bunnies. In the middle of the box is the Peeps logo and behind it, a cute Peeps bird.

As soon as we opened the box, a strong, sweet smell became apparent. The sweetness was very artificial and pretty gross. It did not excite us to eat the cereal; it was even repulsing. Nevertheless, we powered through and poured some into our bowls. 

The cereal looked like blue, pink and yellow Froot Loops with marshmallows. Though to our disappointment, the marshmallows looked nothing like what was shown on the box. They resembled blobs more than bunnies or chicks. The cereal pieces were about the same size as your average circular cereal. 

The taste was like the smell: very sugary and a little questionable. The marshmallows were really small, so we did not get much from them, but what we did get was overwhelming sweetness. There was not anything special about the taste, especially when eaten with milk. The aftertaste was similar to a Cheerio, but again, very sweet. The texture was pretty normal, the same as almost every other cereal. But the marshmallows were chewy and a little stiff.

In conclusion, the Peeps cereal was not that great. We would more likely get the Oreo cereal than the Peeps cereal. It was a little more sweet than something we would want to eat for breakfast. The smell is hard to stomach first thing in the morning. We give this cereal 4.8 out of 10 stars.

Little Debbie’s Nutty Buddy Cereal: $5.49

We were the most reluctant to try this cereal. Even with the enlarged picture of the cereal on it, the yellow box looks kind of gross. Our first thought was that it looked like dog food. The cereal and the Nutty Buddy bar look nothing alike, so we did not expect them to taste the same. 

After we opened the bag and took a sniff, we were even more concerned. It did not smell like a Nutty Buddy or even peanut butter chocolate. It was sickeningly sweet and artificial. If we had to compare it, we’d say it smells like a 1980s scratch-n’ sniff sticker. Yeah — not the smell you would want for your breakfast cereal. 

The cereal pieces were a completely different shade of brown from the photo on the box and looked a lot sad. They were coated in sugar, which was all over the bag, and sported four small holes across the top. We have no idea what the purpose of those holes was, but the cereal pieces felt like a puff, so maybe they were there to keep them aired. These pieces were really thick for cereal and very bulky too. 

After pouring some milk into our bowls and taking a few bites, we both made a face. The cereal was not very tasty whatsoever. Surprisingly, unlike the Peeps, the taste was not as sweet as the smell. However, it did not taste like peanut butter chocolate, or peanut butter at all. It was more like cheap chocolate. The cereal was flaky and got soggy very, very fast. They were easily crushed by our spoons and ended up melting into the milk a bit. We then had over-sweetened chocolate milk five minutes in. It was more like a poorly made dessert than a breakfast food. 

To sum it up, the Nutty Buddy cereal was by far the worst and was pretty gross. It is not worth your five dollars unless you like eating pure sugar that does not even taste super sweet. It smelled and looked unappetizing, which earns the cereal a 2 out of 10 stars. 

Strawberry Banana Cheerios $6.39

This cereal was the best by far. It was a little relieving to see a normal enough cereal box. The Strawberry Banana Cheerio box looked only pink like a regular cheerio box. It had a heart-shaped bowl with pink and tan cereal. Of all the cereal boxes, this one looked the most reassuring.

The smell of the cereal was surprisingly fresh. Unlike the others, this did not smell as artificial; we could get the fruit smell. For once, we were excited to eat the cereal after smelling it. 

The Strawberry Banana Cheerios are the same size as normal Cheerios, the only difference was the color. Some of our cereal was pink for the strawberries and tan for the bananas. The overall consistency looked the same too. There was no extra sugar dusting.

After eating a spoonful of this cereal, we got a strong strawberry taste and a little banana. To our surprise, it was not too artificial tasting. It was not exactly like a real strawberry, but close enough. Somehow, the cereal tasted fresh besides being made of whole grain. Once the strawberry and the slight banana flavor disappeared, we were left with the regular Cheerio taste. Like the Nutty Buddy cereal, the strawberry color melted off the pieces and into the milk. It was not nearly as strong as the cereals before, and we got slightly bland strawberry milk. The texture was the same as any Cheerio despite being a different flavor.

Overall, this cereal was not disgusting. It tasted fruity, fresh and more like a breakfast cereal. Out of all the other cereals, this is the one we would most likely buy again. We give this cereal a 7.5 out of 10.

…

These cereals were all full of surprises, good and bad. If we had to rank them from best to worst, the order would be Strawberry Banana Cheerios, Oreo-O’s, Peeps, and Nutty Buddy cereal. You can now safely go to the grocery store and make smart choices about impulse cereal purchases. Good luck on your future cereal-tasting journey.