Soooo: I’ve been in Copenhagen for a week for work and really had no chance to get very far out of the meeting venue and hotel meeting rooms for anything other than fancy dinners. But who the hell reading this site would care about that when such hotel isolation provides an opportunity to try a cereal that can’t be found on this side of the pond?

Obviously, I had to find a local grocery store to see Europe’s exclusive cereal options, and Lion Cereal is one I have seen in the past but never gave a go. My first thought was, “You know what really sucks about a chocolate and caramel cereal based on a candy bar? The answer is not one damn thing!“

I’m looking at you, Twix. The “candy bar cereal” ball is in your court now.

The best thing about Lion Cereal’s box and label is its tempting promise of chocolate and caramel “taste,” but I have to say that sadly, this was not as “tasty” as I had hoped it would be. It may simply be that hopes were too high but I ultimately prefer Superman Caramel Crunch cereal, which is Lion Cereal’s closest American relative in terms of flavor, texture and size.

Lion Cereal has two distinct colors, and the flavors—when eaten separately—are distinguishable. I do sense chocolate when eating a handful of Lion Cereal’s puffed brown bits, but I can’t say the same about the caramel. The chocolate has a Cocoa Puff-esque flavor, while the caramel is like an understudy to Superman cereal: milder, tamer, and a less faithful representative of its golden ancestor. Despite this, I have never had a Lion Bar (and am currently hanging my head in shame as a result), so I can’t really say whether this bad boy is an authentic breakfast re-creation of the iconic European treat.

The back of Lion Cereal’s box promises to help you feed your wild hunger and start prepping for the next X Games. Oh, and don’t forget to check-off your daily recommended values of “Taysjyvaa” and “Fulkdorn.”

Maybe one of these is Danish for the ever important riboflavin.

I am all about dry cereal, so Lion Cereal didn’t enthrall me in that form. But as a cereal mix aficionado, I also tried mixing my Lion Cereal with some pumpkin seeds and Teddy Grahams, and it was more than delightful!. And for all of you milk fans, I bet Lion Cereal would leave you some good cereal milk.

I honestly don’t recall the price but it was a decent amount of Danish kroners, probably equal to a little under 5 USD.

The Bowl: Lion Cereal

The Breakdown: So-so cocoa and not-so-super caramel flavors make for a disappointing dry cereal that only roars to life in milk or a mix.

The Bottom Line (Dry): 6 lion tamers out of 10

The Bottom Line (Mixed): 8.5 Teddy Graham tamers out of 10

P.S. I am taking this guest review as a chance to start “#bringbacksctc” Please, General Mills, bring back the holiday cereal G.O.A.T.: Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch!