Cereal is a grocery store item that's a staple in many Canadian homes because it's easy to eat and delicious. But which sugary breakfast bowl tastes the best?
I lived most of my life on the other side of the world, and just like Canadians, I grew up eating cereal before catching the bus to school. But, moving to the Great White North as an adult meant I was over my cereal phase in life and never had the chance to try what's available here.
It came as a shock to me that a chocolatey cereal I often ate growing up, Coco Pops, isn't available in Canada. It is kind of like chocolate-covered Rice Crispies but different. People in Canada call the similar one Cocoa Puffs, and it is not the same. For starters, Coco Pops has a monkey on it and comes in a yellow box, whereas Cocoa Puffs has a bird on it and comes in a brown box.
After this discovery, I decided to put the most popular cereal brands to the test and rank them from worst to best. I tried to eat all of the ones found at my local Loblaws, but there were so many options it was very unrealistic to consume them all in one go.
Instead, I asked the team at Narcity what their favourite cereals were and they were as follows: Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms, Nesquik, Oreo Os, Fruit Loops, Timbits Cereal Chocolate Glazed and Frosted Flakes.
I put each one in a bowl with 2% bagged milk and gave them a try. Here's how the taste test went.
Fruit Loops
Fruit Loops.
Price: $6.99 per 480 grams.
I genuinely thought Fruit Loops would be one of my favourites because I remember really enjoying sugary and colourful foods growing up. But it wasn't the vibe as an adult.
The colourful food actually made me uneasy because I knew how much food colouring was in each bite, but also, the cereal tasted less sweet and more sour.
Interestingly enough, did you know that each Fruit Loop tastes the same, regardless of its colour? I ate the different colored circles blindfolded and they all tasted the same.
For those reasons, I'm out.
Score: 2/10
Timbits Cereal Chocolate Glazed
Timbits cereal.
Price: $5.49 per 326 gram.
This cereal doesn't taste like any Timbit I've ever had, nor does it taste like chocolate. For these reasons, I was instantly put off.
Also, when eating popped cereal, like Rice Krispies, I do enjoy the crunch, but in this box, I felt that each bite with milk felt a little like popping candy. I could feel a slight suction on my tongue, which didn't make for a pleasant experience.
However, I think if I had eaten the Tim Hortons cereal, not knowing it was supposed to replicate a chocolate-glazed Timbit, I would've probably been more receptive. But because of that, it's lower on my list.
Score: 3/10
Nesquik
Nesquick.
Price: $6.49 per 600 grams
Similar to the Timbits cereal, Nesquik did not impress me much. I loved that the milk turned chocolatey quickly, but I wish the balls tasted more like chocolate rather than sugar.
I personally love anything that revolves around chocolate, including Nutella, but this cereal didn't give me the same sensation.
The combination of eating something chocolatey, like cookies, with milk is my perfect snack. But with Nesquik, I hoped the chocolate would be more prominent.
The Nesquik cereal I used to grow up eating in the Middle East is owned and produced by Nestle. It was super chocolatey and didn't taste like the General Mills version in Canada.
I prefer the Middle Eastern one way more.
Score: 4/10
Lucky Charms
Lucky Charms.
Price: $5.99 per 300 grams
Okay, Lucky Charms used to be my absolute favourite growing up, mainly because it wasn't sold where I grew up and I used to buy boxes when I'd travel for vacation.
Since moving to Canada, I've had my fair share of them and loved them a lot. But now, comparing them to other Canadian cereals, I wouldn't say it's the best, but it certainly is up there.
The cereal and marshmallow combo is unmatched anywhere else. But the thing is, it's the marshmallows that make the combo so good. If I were to have the frosted toasted cereal on its own with milk, Lucky Charms wouldn't feel so lucky and would probably drop to the bottom of this list.
But thankfully, they are served as one and because of that, I love it.
Score: 6/10
Oreo O's
Oreo O's.
Price: $4.29 per 311 grams
Oreo O's are an exciting cereal that is super new to me. But the most peculiar part is that it doesn't taste much like an Oreo; however, it's still near the top of my list.
Oreos are delicious. They taste even better dunked in milk. So whoever came up with a cereal with Oreos in the name is a genius.
The cereal is shaped like an "O" and has the classic cookie colour but lacks the cream. But if you look at the bowl of Oreo O's as a whole, you can start to see the resemblance.
Again, the chocolate-to-milk combination is literally something I crave and Oreo O's fixes that for me.
Score: 7/10
Frosted Flakes
Frosted Flakes.
Price: $5.99 per 425 grams.
Frosted Flakes feel like a cereal underdog, but it's actually tastier than many other things I've tried for this taste test. It might be because its components are as simple as its name, but each bite had the perfect amount of sugar to cereal and milk ratio.
My one criticism about Frosted Flakes is that it gets soggy quickly, so if you like your cereal crunchy, then I would keep the box close by to top up the milk often.
Also, growing up, I used to eat Frosties, which has the same cereal with Tony the Tiger on the front of the box, but it goes by two different names around the world.
Score: 8/10
Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Price: $5.99 per 354 grams
Alas, we come to the winner of this taste test — Cinnamon Toast Crunch. But are you surprised by that?
I don't think another cereal can beat this and it's impressive that cinnamon, an ingredient that seems so adult, is a primary component and flavour of a fan-favourite.
But, the square cereal bites that look like toast coated in cinnamon sugar that gets soaked in a bowl of milk and has the perfect crunch are the kind of cereal you'd find in heaven.
Every bite tastes better than the last, and because of how unique the combination is, it's a cereal that is hard to compete with.
Score: 10/10
Yonge-Dundas Square ad.Courtesy of Brianne Klenney
