Spooned & Spotted (Europe): Nestlé Lion Cereal

Cerealously’s European readers are probably familiar with Lion Cereal, but hungry Americans like me are roaring with jealousy, because an entire Atlantic Ocean separates us from chocolatey, caramel-y breakfast happiness.

Longtime Spooned & Spotter Marc P. sent in the above photo of a Lion Cereal box he procured on a trip to Copenhagen, and if I could reach through the Internet and snatch a spoonful of it from him, you better believe I’d be elbow deep in my monitor right now.

Lion Cereal has been a European favorite since the early 2000s, when Nestlé introduced it as a loose cereal version of their classic Lion Bar, a wafered chocolate bar stuffed with crisped cereal and caramel. Lion Cereal contains chocolate and caramel-flavored crisps, too, which is a truly unique flavor that’s unheard of in American cereal aisles. I mean sure, you could mix Superman Cereal with Batman Cereal, blend Cap’n Crunch’s Caramel Popcorn Crunch with Chocolatey Crunch, or just crumble Chocolatey Caramel Pop-Tarts into a bowl with milk, but none of those have a beastly lion mascot.

Just moody superheroes, an old ship captain with eyebrows on his hat, and a trip to the dentist.

Hopefully I can find an international grocer around me that has Lion Cereal imported. Otherwise, I might just splurge and scour eBay for a box. This might be dangerous, though: if Lion Cereal is Europe’s best exclusive cereal and Oreo O’s are the cereal pride of Asia, then bringing both into the same household with Waffle Crisp—America’s best exclusive cereal—could bring too much talismanic cereal energy together in one place.

I’m just trying to eat a balanced breakfast here, not tear a hole in the space-time continuum.

A big thanks to Marc for sending in this photo. If you’d like to see your own picture or thoughts featured on Cerealously’s next “Spooned & Spotted” post, all you have to do is head over to our submissions page or email us at cerealously.net@gmail.com.

Posted by dan g.. Categories: Specials. Tags: caramel, chocolate, spooned & spotted. 4 Comments

Oct. ’16

Review: Franken Berry Monster Cereal (2016)

Poor Franken Berry. Our strawberry-flavored, lumpy headed friend is constantly overshadowed by Count Chocula’s mainstream appeal and Boo Berry’s cult appeal. Despite the fact that he’s a big pink creature, Franken Berry’s really more like the black sheep of the Monster Cereal family.

But that’s why I love Frank so much. He’s an outsider’s outsider. He’s a champion of the niche. And most of all, he’s a role model for the weird, the different, and the artificially colored. And that’s why I’m voting Franken Berry all the way in this year’s Monster Cereal Election. Because in a world where artificial colors are being drained from our cereals faster than blood from a vampire bite, Frank is committed to making cereal unnaturally pink again.

Let’s revisit Frank’s flavor platform to make sure his policies match his nostalgic rhetoric. Continue reading →

Posted by dan g.. Categories: Reviews. Tags: 8 rating, franken berry, general mills, halloween, monster cereals, strawberry. 3 Comments

Oct. ’16

Classic Review: Waffle Crisp Cereal

Despite the recent dawn of October, this review isn’t Halloween-themed. It is nostalgia-themed, though, and Halloween is a season of eternal nostalgia draped in a thin veil of sheet ghosts and dollar store cobwebs. There’s no better way to ring in the Month of Spook than by reviewing a cereal that’s as golden as the childhood memories it conjures up.

It’s Post’s much-beloved Waffle Crisp. I’ve been meaning to review Waffle Crisp for some time, and since I reviewed my other favorite childhood cereal last week, I wanted to keep the nostalgia ball* rolling with another classic I remember munching with reckless abandon before elementary school. My 8-year old self was convinced that if I poured my mountain of crunchy waffles high enough, I could hide in it and skip class.

*Oh, and if you’re wondering what a nostalgia ball looks like, it definitely looks like one of those foam Nerf Vortex footballs. Continue reading →

Posted by dan g.. Categories: Reviews. Tags: 10 rating, maple, post. 4 Comments

Oct. ’16

News: Cap’n Crunch Teams Up with KITH Treats for a Unique Cereal-Fashion Collaboration

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hQ_aGtCbAI

Who says a white-haired, curly mustachioed sea captain can’t roll with the cool kids?

With the help of NYC fashion company KITH, Cap’n Crunch is ditching his barnacle-encrusted nautical garb for some truly 21st century threads. I guess he finally realized that epaulets are so last millennium. The partnership between the Cap’n and KITH comes as an extension of the latter’s KITH Treats cereal bar—the first of its kind in the city, predating even Kellogg’s recent foray into the cereal café game.

The ever-trendy KITH Treats has partnered with nostalgia icons like Power Rangers and Rugrats in the past, and since I’ve written before that Cap’n Crunch is nostalgia embodied, it makes sense that KITH designer Ronnie Fieg would make the Cap’n his next V.I.P.

Any party that has Rita Repulsa, Tommy Pickles, and Cap’n Crunch on the guest list is worth sneaking past the bouncer for. Continue reading →

Posted by dan g.. Categories: News. Tags: cap'n crunch, quaker. 1 Comment

Sep. ’16

Review: Erewhon Cinnamon Crispy Brown Rice Cereal

How has there never been a Cinnamon Rice Krispies cereal before?

Okay, technically there was an Apple Cinnamon Rice Krispies in the mid-’90s, and I’m sure it tasted like a rad, cracklin’ apple crumble. But a full-blooded, spicy-sweet Cinnamon Rice Krispies cereal? Nope: there’s no mention of that in my cereal history book.

But we all know it should exist! I mean, just sprinkle the crumbs at the bottom of a Cinnamon Toast Crunch bag over your next bowl of Rice Krispies, and I’m sure you’ll agree that Snap, Crackle, and Pop should have joined forces with Wendell, Bob, and Quello years ago.

Thankfully, we don’t have to rely on Kellogg’s flavor alchemy wizards for a cinnamon-infused crisped rice cereal. Erewhon—a cereal manufacturer I had never tried before today—has a gluten-free product to fit this incredibly specific breakfast niche. It’s called Cinnamon Crispy Brown Rice, and with a name like that, this cereal needs a trio of cartoon dwarf mascots named Smack, Crinkle, and Pep.

Who said originality is dead? Continue reading →

Posted by dan g.. Categories: Reviews. Tags: 7 rating, attune foods, cinnamon, erewhon, rice krispies. 2 Comments

Sep. ’16

Review: Oreo O’s Cereal (South Korea)

In the distant future, when all food is eaten in pill form and my great-grandkids ask me to describe the magic of breakfast cereal, I’ll oil my cyborg jaw motor and tell them about Oreo O’s.

I’ll tell them about the 10 glorious years America spent eating those cookies ‘n’ creme flavored rings. I’ll tell them about Oreo O’s 1997 introduction, orange-sprinkled Halloween Oreo O’s from 2000, and 2002’s marshmallowy Extreme Creme Taste Oreo O’s. I’ll captivate them with tales of sunglasses-wearing milk glob mascots who closely resembled PSY from Gangnam Style.

Then there’ll be a brief intermission as I explain what the heck Gangnam Style was. Seriously: I don’t know how it got over 2 billion views either, children of the future.

Then I’ll tell them about the tragic 2007 discontinuation of Oreo O’s. I’ll pause to build suspense, and then I’ll tell them about the legal loophole that allowed South Korean food manufacturer Dongsuh Companies Inc. to keep producing Oreo O’s as the rest of the world mourned the loss of milk’s favorite cereal. With my own eyes glistening, I’ll tell them about the E. coli contamination that forced Dongsuh to recall Oreo O’s in 2014, as well as the two-year Oreo O’s drought that followed—known globally as “The Second Dark Ages.”

But then I’ll finish with the story of Fall 2016, when an unexpected tweet from a Korean food account alerted me that the dawn of a new age was upon us. Continue reading →

Posted by dan g.. Categories: Reviews. Tags: 10 rating, chocolate, marshmallows, oreo o's, post. 31 Comments

Sep. ’16

Review: Kellogg’s Limited Edition Frosted Caramel Apple Pop-Tarts

I’ve never considered bobbing for Pop-Tarts before, but after trying Kellogg’s new Caramel Apple Pop-Tarts, I’m ready to fill a 19th century wooden bucket with water and pastries and dive in headfirst.

But before I take my triumphant Olympian plunge, let’s set the stage.

After years of dominance, pumpkin spice is starting to lose its novelty. There are only so many things you can cram ginger and nutmeg into. So like an autumnal retelling of Star Wars, apple-flavored snacks have started a quiet rebellion against the Pumpkin Empire. And I like to think that Caramel Apple Pop-Tarts are their heroic Luke Skywalker.

Luke Apple Piewalker has quite the origin story, too. While these Tarts were only formally announced about two months ago, we first leaked an early release image of them way back in April. Back then, searching for “caramel apple pop-tarts” just made Google think you were drunk.

I wondered whether these neon-squiggled rectangles would ever see the light of day, but I’m happy to say that they have. And now they’ll get to see the warming light of my toaster, too. Continue reading →

Posted by dan g.. Categories: Reviews. Tags: 9 rating, apple, caramel, kelloggs, non cereal, pop-tarts. 3 Comments

Sep. ’16

Review: Trader Joe’s “this pumpkin walks into a bar…” Cereal Bars

“They’re called cereal bars, okay? It says it right on the box! I promise, I am not a monster!” I shout to the non-existent critics who haunt my nightmares and claim that my breakfast cereal blog has strayed too far from its flaky roots.

I’m not going to feel bad about reviewing Trader Joe’s conversationally named “this pumpkin walks into a bar…” pumpkin breakfast bars, because A) It’s the witching season so there are no rules and B) I already reviewed these bars’ little brother, Pumpkin Spice Nutri-Grain bars, so I want to compare the pair.

Note: I call Pumpkin Spice Nutri-Grain the little brother not just because TJ’s bars have existed longer, but also because of each bar’s respective aesthetic. Trader Joe’s pumpkin bars seem like the hippy college student who dropped out to join the Peace Corps, while Nutri-Grain bars feel like the 1st grader who’s still making fuzzy spiders out of pipe cleaner pieces.

While you digest that mental image, I’ll start digesting this “this pumpkin walks into a bar…” bar. Continue reading →

Posted by dan g.. Categories: Reviews. Tags: 9 rating, breakfast bars, non cereal, pumpkin, trader joe's. 7 Comments