I’ve been on a long quest to review every raisin bran cereal imaginable, a quest so exhaustive that I bran out of “raisin bran” puns months ago.
Wait, guess I had one more in me.
Having travelled far, eaten a lot, and picked many raisins out of tricky tooth crevasses, it’s time for me to return again to raisin bran’s humble origins. Not all the way back—I’ve already reviewed the first raisin bran ever created—but still back to 1942, when Post Raisin Bran debuted in the same year as Kellogg’s Raisin Bran, a simultaneous release that I can only imagine ended in West Side Story-esque rivalries between street gangs loyal to each respective bran brand.
But is Post the Raisin Bran with the most, or does Kellogg’s smiling sun melt away the competition? Time to unsheathe my spoon, ready my dental floss, and find out.
Would you like the good news or the bad news first?
What’s that you say? You’re on the other side of a computer monitor, hundreds of miles away and therefore can’t tell me which news you’d rather hear first, no matter how hard you yell and spook your cat?
Okay fine, I guess I’ll start with the bad news: Post Raisin Bran has lame flakes. One might say they taste stale straight out of the box. One might even say the flakes taste like they’ve been chilling in the same vacuum-sealed bag for the past 74 years, like edible mummies made of crispy, paper-thin wheat.
Though saying they taste like ancient Egyptian monsters may be giving Post Raisin Bran’s flakes too much credit. Really, they don’t taste like much at all. The flakes are uncomfortably chewy and mealy, with an undercurrent of toasted whole grain, but it isn’t golden, malted, or even all that sweet.
Imagine off-brand wheat bread crust that chilled in the clearance aisle a little too long.
But despair not, my fellow raisin bran fanboys and fangirls, for there is good news: the raisins in Post Raisin Bran are fantastic. I might even call them bran-tastic, but I’m already on thin ice with the pun police after that first one. You have no idea how hard it is to survive in a wordplay penitentiary when all you want to do is call it a “punitentiary.”
Post Raisin Bran’s titular purple nuggets are oozing with juiciness and encrusted with a thick layer of sweetly sparkling sugar. These perfectly squishy Fabergé grapes balance the bland brand with a popping, sundried raisin flavor that’s way more ripe and sweet than tangy or puckering. They taste a lot like Sun-Maid Raisins—and that’s because they are Sun-Maid Raisins! Post doesn’t skimp on name brand quality here, boasting right on their packaging that this iconic purple box contains nothing less than the best raisins.
Of course, this raisin indulgence means they skimped on flake quality, and the rest of the packaging looks boring enough to belong in a ’90s sitcom character’s apartment. But hey: I’ll take any chance to make eye contact with that cute Sun-Maid Raisin girl from across the breakfast table.
Do you think if I wrote my phone number inside the box, she’d ever call me?
“But what about in milk?!” I imagine you yelling aloud, much to the distaste of your already irritated cat. Well Post’s Raisin Bran fares quite well in a milk bath—provided you enjoy oatmeal. See, this stuff is super absorbent, and it tends to turn mushy quite quickly. While the bran paste remains largely earthy or flavorless, it’s studded with plump, swollen Sun-Maid Raisins that ooze a fine, delectable juice. The raisins are like worker bees secreting royal jelly, except this stuff tastes like fruity sugar glaze instead of whatever the heck royal jelly tastes like.
I imagine I wouldn’t want to make a PB&J out of it.
Your overall enjoyment of Post Raisin Bran will hinge on the flake to raisin ratio of each bowl. And since the dense raisins like to sink to the bag’s bottom, you might have to wade through a couple sad bowls to get to the fun stuff. Kind of sounds like a metaphor for life, doesn’t it?
To make the flaky parts more tolerable, I recommend sprinkling a bit of cinnamon on top of the bowl before adding milk. With squinted eyes and a little imagination, you can convince yourself you’re eating a doughy cinnamon raisin bagel.
As for the Post v. Kellogg’s raisin bran civil war, I’d say it’s a draw. Kellogg’s has the better flakes, Post has the better raisins. If they could get over their differences, the two could join forces and build a hybrid raisin bran cereal tasty enough to take on the Avengers.
I’d Hulk smash through a box of that stuff any day.
The Bowl: Post Raisin Bran Cereal
The Breakdown: A battle of attrition between flavorless flakes and delightful raisins ends in a slight victory for the raisins—but only if milk and cinnamon are around to provide reinforcements.
The Bottom Line: 6.5 PBee&J sandwiches (please don’t send me to jail) out of 10
Post Raisin Bran dissolves in the milk and sits in the bottom of the bowl.
The raisins are ok but the flakes are mushy.
Large talk box won’t even fit in some cabinets.
Not pleased with the brand.
Going back to Kellogg’s for their Raisin Bran.
Most stores we go to don’t have Post Raison Brand in stock. Walmart, HEB, Randalls. If available only small size for an overpriced cost,
Post Raisin Bran had always been my first choice until they changed their flakes. I love that the raisins are sugared because they have great flavor. I can hardly stand to eat the new flakes they are horrible. Please go back to the light airy flakes I love. When I first tasted the new flakes I thought I got a bad box. So I tried it again and I won’t be buying this raisin brand again unless the flakes change. Sooo disappointed!
In the uk it’s known as Sultana bran, but the raisins aren’t sugar coated lol
Bought a box and I get 2 or 3 raisins per bowl, so its just bran, will never buy again terrible
Sane thing happened to me. Thought the first box was just a bad batch. Bought another with same horrible flakes – big, hard, no taste, no raisins. So disappointed. Must search for another cereal. Bring back the old Raisin Bran or just stop making it at all.
Contacted post about flake changes & they said Canadian
new flake manufacturer, I said please put it back to original, Rep told me to look for made in America boxes. they sent me two free box coupons and another this week but of all my searching, none found. We are older persons Dentures and frail teeth and not looking for more crunch Just what was original. If they change it back I need to know where to buy it because I’m not hunting it anymore. three coupons cant get us back. Have Walmart put it on there online sales site as original raison flake recipe from Post. I would buy it and have it delivered to my address, I’ve already searched enough. BL Crossville TN
5/01/2021 UPDATE: post has restored its original flake recipe, I received a message from post that “we heard you”. I had been watching the shelves and only found “made in Canada” until now, I used my
coupons and purchased two boxes of PRB that had no
“made in country logo” and to my surprise it was the same as it was in the past. Thanks Post
PS. unwanted boxes of PRB have “Made in Canada” on them and are not wanted in our house.
Apparently something changed drastically for me.
I’ve been eating post raisin bran every day for about 6 months.
Today i noticed the flakes didn’t sink heavily down in my bowl, it was easier to chew, and was very light and crunchy like regular corn flakes.
So i google “changes in post cereal” and ended up here.
I was taken by surprise, but the taste is still bland like any other brand flakes, but the density has changed.
1. Easier to pour
2. Easier to soak up the milk
3. Easier to chew
4. Easier to finish my bowl 2x faster
5. Easier for the raisins to find their way through from the bottom. Normally on new cereals you don’t get much raisins until half way down
6. Raisins are still good
My only thing is that i hope I’m not paying the same for less “thinner” flakes. Its a sneaky way to increase their bottom dollar.
Overall i can accept the new lighter flakes. Lets hope its not a fluke…😄
Post Raisin Bran in August 2020 changed the thickness of its Post Raisin Bran flake to about triple the original flake and it’s awful. Incredibly poor brand strategy for a decades old existing product.
If I had known Post was going to change the bran flake AND decrease the number of raisins I would have stockpiled boxes during 2020!
I will be buying Kellogg’s from now on. This new stuff is garbage. What idiot believed this was a good idea? Fire him/her. It’s like chewing on wood chips.
What happened? I opened a new box and had a bowl of Post Raisin Bran today. Yuck. The flakes were overly thick, the wrong color, lacked taste, and I was sorry for every mouthful of the bowl. I should have eaten something better. Now I have two new boxes of cereal I don’t want to eat. The closed box can get donated but the open box will likely go in the bin. That bad
Post Raisin Bran is awful now that you’ve made the flakes thicker, hard to chew and tasteless. I wonder if your taste experts ever taste the changes they make. I agree with other comments listed that they taste stale right out of the box. The original thin crispy flakes were great, why change a good thing? I will not purchase this product again.
Post Raisin Bran what did you do to your flakes? They seem thicker and have lost their crunch! Will not purchase again. They were my favorite.
The last two boxes of Post Raisin Bran have been terrible. I think they changed the flakes for some reason. The first box I thought I just got a box that had a bad bunch of flakes. A month or so later it was the same crappy flakes. Really disappointed.
God bless you,
I agree. Same thing happened to me. People are so quick to change and undo something that’s great. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Not impressed at all! Bring back the good flakes!
Sane thing happened to me. Thought the first box was just a bad batch. Bought another with same horrible flakes – big, hard, no taste, no raisins. So disappointed. Must search for another cereal. Bring back the old Raisin Bran or just stop making it at all.
Post Raisin Bran had always been my first choice until they changed their flakes. I love that the raisins are sugared because they have great flavor. I can hardly stand to eat the new flakes they are horrible. Please go back to the light airy flakes I love. When I first tasted the new flakes I thought I got a bad box. So I tried it again and I won’t be buying this raisin brand again unless the flakes change. Sooo disappointed!
I want a box of just raisins
I’ve had both post raisin Bran and Kellogg’s.I have found there is no substitute for great taste post raisin Bran is absolutely the best raisin bran I have ever tried Kellogg’s raisin Bran taste to me. let me rephrase that Kellogg’s has no taste it’s like cardboard no taste post raisin band is absolutely the best!!
I bought a box & there’s room for improvement. My box has no raisins. The flakes are huge. They’re hard to eat & they box is too tall. It won’t fit on my shelves
so very true!