Gallery: We Try All the Flavors of Cheerios

Original Cheerios

Is there any cereal more ubiquitous? There's a comforting, all-American quality to Cheerios that has stood the test of time. Cheerios was introduced by General Mills in 1941 as the first oat-based, cold cereal. Since then, flavor varieties have abounded, but the original remains a favorite. If you're a "mixer," they make an awesome base for other cereals to join. For example, Grape Nuts and Cheerios, with the little Nuts finding their way into the middle of the O's, using them as life preservers. Even when O's get soft, they taste great in milk.

With the release of all sorts of crazy Cheerios flavors, you start to appreciate the pure taste of the original even more.

Honey Nut Cheerios

The O's are glazed and lightly sweetened with that distinct "nut" flavor. In milk, they shed their sugary coats and the honey essence enters the milk creating an intoxicating elixir. That, mixed with perfectly just-soggy O's, is a damn fine bowl of cereal. They are so light and go down so easily, you could easily kill a box within three sittings.

Apple Cinnamon Cheerios

They have a warm, cinnamony flavor and a nice crunchy, bit-of-sugar coating. "They taste like fall!" claimed videographer Jessica. Indeed, they do.

Multigrain Cheerios

Here's how Leandra summed these up: "MULTIGRAIN CHEERIOS ARE MY JAM. I love this cereal with a deep passion. Absolutely a top 5 cereal." Maybe it's the colors—various appealing shades of brown, tan and corn-like yellow—or the slight glaze on the O's that gives them that extra crunch, but whichever magicians developed this cereal certainly did something right.

Frosted Cheerios

You know those poor underrated (non-marshmallow) cereal pieces in Lucky Charms? Well, take those and coat them in an excellent robe of sugar, and you have Frosted Cheerios. Yet somehow this coating is less sweet than that of say, Froot Loops or Frosted Flakes. The strongest flavor coming through is that good old Cheerios taste, with the balanced crunch and sweetness of the frost. Yet again, here is a "sugary" cereal that Cheerios manages to keep within its conservative bounds.

Fruity Cheerios

Remember the first time you had Trix and it changed your young life forever? And the same for Fruity Pebbles? Fruity Cheerios were released in 1995; but unlike other fruity cereals, they don't have an aggressive sugary coating or even a perceptible glaze. Just happy colored O's with a flavor that combines hints of Trix with a bit of "health-food fruit cereal." Even the most mature, discerning fruity cereal lover can almost feel good about these. It maintains that wholesome Cheerios quality with all the fun of a fruity cereal.

Chocolate Cheerios

Let's cut to the chase: The chocolate flavor in these screams health-food-chocolate. Put this next to Cocoa Puffs, Pebbles, or Krispies (you wouldn't dare put these next to the Count) and it would taste like rabbit food. But when you take a step back and remember that these are Cheerios we're talking about, and they're always going to fall short of sugary-sweet and decadent, this is actually a pretty decent chocolate cereal. And once again, it doesn't feel like you are eating handfuls of candy.

Oat Cluster Cheerios Crunch

The O's themselves are great; your standard MultiGrain Cheerios flavor. But it's the cluster that is the real problem here. They are basically just balls of oat. Which isn't too great of a texture, especially not when you are expecting a "bunches-like" crunch. These "clusters" also taste strongly of cinnamon. Even if you like cinnamon, they're a cinnamon bomb. Disappointing.

Yogurt Burst Cheerios

Even if you're not into yogurt-coated anything, you might be pleasantly surprised by this one. The Cheerios are lightly sweetened with a nice amount of yogurt-covered Cheerios mixed in. The strawberry flavor is very light and the "yogurt" coating has a smooth, pleasant sweetness.

MultiGrain Peanut Butter Cheerios

In keeping with original Multi Grain Cheerios, there are three distinct colors: dark-brownish, cream, and a "light tangerine" color. The first taste is salt. Pleasant, satisfying, peanut-buttery salt. Impressive for a cereal. The peanut butter flavor is slight but not artificial or candy-tasting. Unfortunately, the peanut butter flavor disappears in milk, but the O's do retain a nice crunch.

Cinnamon Burst Cheerios

This is one underrated cereal. Fantastic cinnamon flavor with that satisfying Cheerios crunch. It doesn't try to get too crazy, stays true to the original goodness with a gentle hint of cinnamon.

Dulce de Leche Cheerios

When you open the box, you are fairly assaulted with a sickly sweet waft of cereal breath. The O's are pudgy and more aerated with a light glaze. The flavor is akin to Quaker caramel rice cakes, which makes sense. Overly sweet with some artificial notes. Milk helped, but not a whole lot.

Banana Nut Cheerios

These Cheerios taste of nothing but banana chips. So if you hate banana chips, this isn't the cereal for you. Not sure where the nuts fit in either.