REVIEW: Kellogg’s Stranger Things Demogorgon Crunch Cereal

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Kellogg's Stranger Things Demogorgon Crunch Cereal Box

Stranger Things is in the midst of a generational run when it comes to brand collabs months before a show or movie releases. The fifth and final season of the popular Netflix show begins its three-part rollout on Thanksgiving, but branded products began popping up on shelves as early as July and August. I’m looking at you, God-awful Chocolate Strawberry Chewy Chips Ahoy cookies that were so bad we didn’t even review them here — yuck. From Cake Bites to Klondike Ice Cream Cones to frozen pizzas and endless amounts of clothing, candy, and candles, the Stranger Things finale is not coming or going quietly.

Fortunately for the cereal-lovers (me), whereas most brands phone it in with a generic-flavored colorful puff cereal to promote their movie or show (Wednesday, Wicked, Bluey, etc), the brand new Stranger Things Demogorgon Crunch is not only an under-utilized flavor, but perfectly on theme for the show. Demogorgon Crunch is a syrup-flavored cereal with Upside Down marshmallows, in the shape of a flashlight, a demogorgon, and a d20 die.

Kellogg's Stranger Things Demogorgon Crunch Cereal close up

If you are wondering where Eggo Cereal went, I have your answer: right here. Eggo cereal has never been as punchy, intense, and downright delicious as Post’s Waffle Crisp, and the same remains true for this “new” spin by Kellogg’s. But it makes perfect sense. In the show, Eleven eats tons of Eggo waffles, and there is already a new line of Eggo waffles out for the show’s final season. I can’t be mad at a company for doing an obvious slam dunk move and pulling it off. The hefty cereal pieces bear a nice, slightly mild maple flavor with a touch of butteriness that works well as a dry snack and holds their own in milk perfectly.

Kellogg's Stranger Things Demogorgon Crunch Cereal in a bowl

Generally speaking, marshmallows make every cereal better, and this is no exception. The marshmallows have a very sweet, vanilla-leaning flavor that is more pronounced than most cereal marshmallows and stands out well against the maple notes. My one major complaint is that, compared to Lucky Charms or my beloved Monster Cereals, the marshmallow-to-cereal-ratio is a bit lacking. To be fair, the cereal pieces here have a lot more flavor than most marshmallow-laden breakfast boxes, but I still could use more with this otherwise really satisfying release.

Kellogg's Stranger Things Demogorgon Crunch Cereal back of box

The box design and theming of Demogorgon Crunch is a 10 out of 10. I love the retro look and feel of the entire presentation, and the product is good enough to keep around on shelves beyond just a promotional item, too. This is the first time I have tried a maple cereal with marshmallows, and I am in favor of bringing this one back once it inevitably vanishes into the Upside Down after the promo cycle ends.

Purchased Price: $6.99
Size: 12.1 ounces
Purchased at: Target.com
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 1/3 cup. 40g) 150 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 150 milligrams of sodium, 34 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 14 grams of total sugars, 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Limited Edition Caramel Corn Chex Cereal

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I could make the argument, based on absolutely zero research, that Chex is the most versatile cereal of all time. Seriously, no brand has ever put out more flavors, based on no research, and Chex pieces are unequivocally the world’s favorite snack mix ingredient… and I am, of course, basing this on zero research. Not even a simple Google.

Corn Chex, Rice Chex, Wheat Chex. Who can beat Chex? Cheerios?!

Yeah, maybe Cheerios actually. They do a lot. Ah man, are Cheerios better than Chex?

No! Wait, this is about Chex. Cheerios Shmeerios. They’re not better, they just have better PR.

Has Cheerios ever released a Caramel Corn flavor like Chex just did?! I’m not gonna research it, but I don’t think so. Checkmate, Cheerios.

I know what you’re thinking, surely Chex has done similar flavors to Caramel Corn before, but that was Caramel *beat* Corn Chex, and this is Caramel Corn *beat* Chex. It’s like “Under Pressure” and “Ice Ice Baby,” totally different, but both absolute bangers.

I’mma need you to stop, collaborate, and listen, because this is a great cereal.

Limited Edition Caramel Corn Chex Cereal in a bowl

When I tore the bag open, I was instantly hit with a nostalgic whiff of my favorite cereal of all time, the brand that dropped the “Cheeri,” because it was cleaner – Oh’s.

Where are my Oh’s fans at? Good news, Caramel Corn Chex smells and tastes pretty similar to Honey Oh’s, except not in that show-offy Cheerio ring shape, but the classic Chex weave.

While I can’t sit here and tell you these taste exactly like legitimate caramel corn, the sweetness does subside, and it manages to take on a cornier character. A valiant effort, and also how people describe me to a T – “the sweetness subsides to reveal a cornier character.”

Limited Edition Caramel Corn Chex Cereal in milk

I am a little bummed these don’t get closer to actual caramel corn flavor though. They hit the Fiddle, but don’t quite get there on the Faddle.

If you’ve ever had Honey Nut Chex Mix, this isn’t too far off from that, if at all. These are pretty sweet, and maybe even a bit too hard because of the sugary glaze coating, but they work well as a dry snack. I’m not usually one to eat cereal without milk, but I’ve been popping handfuls all week. Whereas something like dry Cap’n Crunch will leave me feeling Crap’y, these hit the spot.

Limited Edition Caramel Corn Chex Cereal on spoon

I keep mentioning “honey” because I guess I don’t taste much of a difference between honey-based cereals and the “caramel” represented here. Honey’s good though, right? We like honey.

Limited Edition Caramel Corn Chex Cereal in another bowl

So, with that said, I feel some are gonna think this cereal’s name is a bit of a stretch, but I still believe it’s a crowd pleaser. It has the sweetness of a kid’s cereal, but Chex just feels more acceptable as an adult, so it should be fun for the whole family – hence the Family Sized box.

Limited Edition Caramel Corn Chex Cereal recipes on back of box

This is an easy recommendation. I’m actually gonna grab another box because it has some fun Chex Mix recipes I wanna try. Why spend $4 on a pre-made bag when you can customize your own and buy each individual ingredient for a grand total of $38?

Purchased Price: $4.93
Size: 19.6 oz Family Size
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 Cup) 160 calories, 1 gram of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 250 milligrams of sodium, 38 grams of total carbohydrates, 12 grams of total sugars, 2 grams of dietary fiber, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Cinnamon Toast Crunch Mexican Hot Chocolate Cereal

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Cinnamon Toast Crunch is one of the most beloved cereals, and many of its limited edition seasonal flavors, such as Apple Pie and Sugar Cookie, have been home runs.

For this year’s winter season, we get another seasonal flavor: Mexican Style Hot Chocolate. Since we’ve already had Churros, Dulce de Leche, and Tres Leches, it only makes sense that we would get another Mexican-adjacent flavor. Though this cereal is evidently for wintertime, it’s out early enough that you could include it for your Day of the Dead celebrations if you wanted.

Mexican hot chocolate typically has cinnamon, and sometimes it has “hot” spices like cayenne pepper. Thankfully, this cereal does not have hot spices (even though we have seen that before!).

I expected that the chocolate flavoring would be subtle. But the cereal pieces are generously dusted with a cocoa-y powder, and there’s no mistaking that this is a chocolate cereal.

With that said, the chocolate flavor is not aggressive. Chocolate fiends might wish for more, and it doesn’t really impart much cocoa flavor to the milk. But if you want something super chocolatey, you can just pick a different chocolate cereal instead.

Obviously, this cereal prominently features cinnamon. Is it different than regular cinnamon in Cinnamon Toast Crunch? I don’t actually know, but it seems that way to me. The combination of cocoa and cinnamon gives the cereal a robust flavor. While this is a sugary cereal with anthropomorphic cartoon cereal pieces on the front, the cereal seems slightly more mature than the ordinary version.

Mexican Style Hot Chocolate Cinnamon Toast Crunch is a delightful addition to the canon of CTC flavors, and I will definitely buy it again this season.

Purchased Price: $4.93
Size: 18.8 oz box
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup) 170 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1 gram of polyunsaturated fat, 3 grams of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 200 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of dietary fiber, 12 grams of sugar (including 12 grams of added sugar), and 3 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes Cookies & Creme Milkshake Cereal

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Tony the Tiger must have stumbled into an ice cream parlor and liked it so much he decided to stay a while. A few years ago, Frosted Flakes came out with Strawberry Milkshake and Chocolate Milkshake varieties, and it appears they were successful enough for Kellogg’s to decide to pick up the ice cream scoop again and return to the blender because now we have Cookies & Crème Milkshake Frosted Flakes.

Cookies and crème sounds like a delicious milkshake flavor, but I can’t help but look at this box and worry that perhaps Frosted Flakes is not the correct vehicle to carry this concept. The art is pretty bland, featuring a bowl of cereal that looks like a semi-truck ran over a bunch of extra pale Cookie Crisp, and Tony was around to scrape up the aftermath.

Opening the bag, I was hit with a scent that was artificial and mildly off-putting. It smells sweet, but not in a way that makes me excited to dive in. I poured a bowl and was not surprised when it looked exactly as pictured.

This is not a visually appealing cereal; the smattering of tiny chocolate specks is unflattering at best and, at worst, could make a person worry there are bugs in their breakfast. I tried a few flakes dry before pouring on the milk, and at every step in this process, I found myself thinking, “I wish these were regular Frosted Flakes.” There just isn’t enough here to set this apart from a generic flake cereal. If you’re going for a “cookies and crème” profile, why be so stingy with the cookie portion? These dots that represent the cookie element are smaller than crumbs and don’t have a noticeable chocolate flavor. There’s also nothing here that suggests the creamy portion of a cookie or the ice cream in a milkshake.

It seems like Kellogg’s thinks that adding milk is enough to push this into milkshake flavor territory, but I’m here to confirm that it isn’t. Maybe that worked better with the stronger chocolate and strawberry iterations, but it doesn’t cut it here. Once you have poured milk on these (Congratulations! You made a milkshake!), they almost seem to get soggy faster than regular Frosted Flakes, and once you’ve eaten the cereal portion, the milk it leaves behind is equally disappointing. Some of the supposedly chocolate bits retain their shape and sit at the bottom, but again, they impart very little in terms of flavor and are mostly just sediment in the pool that is your sad milkshake.

At the price of around seven dollars a box, I can’t recommend this cereal. I’m sure it will have its fans, but for me, it’s lacking all around. Maybe the addition of more chocolate or a creamier coating on the flakes could have made it more true to its namesake, but as it stands, I think it’s time Tony turns to another dessert for inspiration cause the shake concept might have run its course.

Purchased Price: $6.99
Size: 12.1 oz box
Purchased at: Jewel
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup) 140 calories, 0 grams of total fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 170 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of total carbs, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 13 grams of total sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Kellogg’s Froot Loops Ice Cream

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Full disclosure: I’m a Fruity Pebbles guy. If I had to rank the three most popular fruity cereals, it would go Fruity Pebbles, Froot Loops, and then Trix. I don’t hate Trix, but I’d pick the others over it if given the option. Sorry, silly rabbit, Trix are not as tasty as the other two.

The reason why I feel Fruity Pebbles is a superior cereal over Froot Loops is because the colorful rice cereal is sweeter and has a more significant fruity kick than the bright O’s from Kellogg’s.

With that said, this Froot Loops Ice Cream has a fruitiness and a sweetness I wish the actual cereal had. The flavor is undoubtedly Froot Loops but enhanced, like a baseball player from the early 2000s. This might be the sugar talking, but if Toucan Sam ate this ice cream, he would switch from using his beak to follow Froot Loops’ scent to pecking the peepers of the people who have the power to change the cereal’s recipe to make it taste as great as this ice cream.

However, despite being inspired by a cereal, this dessert somehow lacks any crunch. There are specks of pulverized Froot Loops floating in the cereal milk-flavored ice cream base, but most are on the border of being microscopic, which is definitely too small to provide any texture. But I guess being tiny allows them to permeate Froot Loops flavor throughout the ice cream in the 14-fluid-ounce container.

Now, I guess I could buy a box of Froot Loops and crush some on top, but not to the point where they’re nearly microscopic, to get some crunch. But let’s be honest: that’s way too much effort for a dessert. Heck, I’m too lazy to even scoop this into a bowl.

If you’re a Froot Loops fanatic, do yourself a favor and pick up this ice cream. Even if you’re on Team Fruity Pebbles or Team Trix, I think it’ll tickle your taste buds.

Purchased Price: $6.99*
Size: 14 fl oz container
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 210 calories, 11 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 60 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 19 grams of sugar (including 15 grams of added sugar), and 3 grams of protein.

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.

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