With Violet Beauregarde, one of the Blue Man Group guys (the quiet, sensitive one), and Paul Giamatti’s character Marty Wolf in the seminal 2002 classic film Big Fat Liar as my witnesses, I will never stop preaching the good word of Kellogg’s Fruity Snacks—specifically the blueberry ones.

Ever since Scooby-Doo fruit snacks, another object of my analogical fixation, changed their packaging and recipe for the worse, Kellogg’s Fruity Snacks are undoubtedly the best bite-sized bits of gelatin you can find in the Snacks, Etc. aisle. In fact, I’d say they’re third in my personal gummy candy fandom, surpassed only by blue sharks (essentially blueberry Fruity Snacks that’ve evolved predatory instinct) and Venus de Milo herself.

Yes, the potently juicy flavor of each Kellogg’s Fruity Snack, be it straw-, rasp-, or blueberry, is both refined and instantly recognizable. But it’s that last cerulean snack—which I also love for looking like a video game mana potion—that I’ve most wanted to see translated into a cereal again. Too often in mixed berry cereals, the flavor scientists paint the whole flavortown red, giving little leeway for the subtlety of blueberry to shine through. Yet every time there’s been an exception, the result is wonderful—even if it inevitably results in discontinuation, too. Whether they’re Tiny Toasts (turned Toast Crunches) or Muffin Tops that inspire sponsored meals, blueberry cereal is a refreshing, yet underrated experience—much like the first swing set underdog during a brisk late-fall recess.

The moment I heard about Blueberry Cheerios, I hoped this was my chance to taste blueberry gummy jam spread across toasted grain once more. So no pressure, General Mills: but if you get this one wrong, you’ll have to sculpt me a gummy Dionysus as penance.

The bad news is that unlike Blueberry Toast Crunch and the best Cheerios variety of the last decade, Blueberry Cheerios are not thickly crop-dusted with stone-milled blueberry harvest powder, so you can’t use “I got funky moon sand on my slacks” as an excuse to wear oversized basketball shorts to work.

The good news is that, despite the absent added potency a powdered coating would give Blueberry Cheerios, the cereal still manages to do a great job of synthesizing genuine and, yes, gummy blueberry flavors into each mild-mannered ring. Gone are the twists of tartness found in Very Berry Cheerios—BB Cheerios are much more like the indigo Luigis to Strawberry Cheerios’ Mario. Where Strawberry Cheerios brought well-rounded and well, well done fruit flavor with a smooth and inoffensive strawberry puree, Blueberry Cheerios have just a bit more attitude, bringing pops of candied blueberry that would make even Cap’n Crunch jealous, and glazing them over a hearty oat ring that patches in some more subdued notes of blueberry jelly in the aftertaste.

And speaking of jelly: if ever there were a time to mix in some Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheerios, it would be halfway through a bowl of Blueberry.

My main gripe is with Blueberry Cheerios’ ultimately dry mouthfeel. It’s almost certainly lingering longing for Blueberry Toast Crunch, but if that cereal was a boxful of blueberry toast centers, then Blueberry Cheerios feels like a bag’s worth of crusts. While Blueberry Cheerios will make a great desk snack or Ziploc’d treat for school-bound kids, a little dusted pillowiness would’ve gone a long way toward saving my parched taste buds from becoming bristly briars.

Of course, lunar residue isn’t the only way to make a cereal softer. Milk is highly recommended for Blueberry Cheerios, and not just for the touchy-mouthfeely effect it has on the once arid rings. No, milks also helps the oat cereal base’s best bakery notes rise to the muffin-top, as Blueberry Cheerios’ overall palate gains the golden-toasted nuance of an actual blueberry dessert, rather than just its namesake berry.

Now whether it tastes better than a doused dozen Hostess Blueberry Mini Muffins is debatable, but a bowl of Blueberry Cheerios is certainly more milk-tight than a swollen plastic pouch.

Overall, Blueberry Cheerios is a welcome (and permanent!) addition to the Cheerios catalogue. No word yet on whether Strawberry Cheerios will return this summer to give Blueberry a fraternally fruity competitor, but come autumn, Blueberry Cheerios could certainly one-up Boo Berry any day—just add marbits and it would be like the Monster Cereals’ oat flour glory days once more. Yes, no matter the season, this stuff’s droll sensibilities and all-or-muffin approach to balancing dry fruitiness with milked doughiness brings a very happy medium to a cereal aisle with an extra-small blueberry selection.

You win this round, General Mills. Guess I’ll have to take my own Greco-Roman gummy sculpting classes.

The Bowl: Blueberry Cheerios

The Breakdown: Wryly appealing, yet direly in need of milk, Blueberry Cheerios delivers on its simple promise with a simplified formula bringing the best of both plucked and baked blueberry worlds, swirled into something that may not mollify your Muffin Top cravings, but will still certainly get Malt-O-Meal listening.

The Bottom Line: 8.5 Very Waluigi Berry Cheerios out of 10