The fruit-to-artificial-imitation pipeline is really interesting to me. You’ve got fake flavors like green apple that, while not anything like eating a Granny Smith, at least sort of makes sense, as the artificial version still puckers one’s lips with hyped-up juiciness. But then you have the candied bananas, strawberries, and blueberries of the world. These range anywhere from “okay, I could see it, maybe in a sweet smoothie” to “why must humans play God?”

Blueberry is fascinating to me because, though I love Kellogg’s blueberry Fruity Snacks and Boo Berry, I’m not under any impression that those reflect reality. In all honesty, I’m not the biggest fan of plain blueberries. I’m much more of a strawberry fella, even (and especially) when it comes to jelly. Don’t even get me started on Grape PB&Js.

Oh man, I got so off topic there. The point is that the dried blueberries—something I’ve never had before—in Kellogg’s new Special K with Blueberries cereal strike an interesting balance between fresh and highly concentrated blueberry flavor. And they’re huge!

Let me first say, eating Special K with Blueberries dry is a really dry experience. I usually wait ’til the end of the review to recommend milk or not, but I feel it’s practically essential for eating this Special K, even if you’re just alternating handfuls with sips from a glass. The combo of heavy flakes and shriveled-up blueberries hits your tongue like a moisture vampire, and despite this arid in-mouth experience, the dryness will only get worse.

Because you’ll keep shoveling in more handfuls.

Because Special K with Blueberries is pretty good!

Like I said, plain blueberries, jelly, or compote convinced me that real and fake blueberry flavor is quite distinguishable, but with these dried-up blueberries I see now how they are a missing link between theoretical and practical blueberry taste. Maybe none of this makes sense and I’m slowly sweltering in a dry cereal desert, searching more milky oases.

Special K with Blueberries + milk = berry good!

Seriously, my main qualms of dryness and mouth scrape-ability are quite literally washed away by milk. Granted, the blueberry and golden-toasted multigrain flake flavor isn’t super deep or nuanced, but its simple appeal is undeniable. On the surface, Special K with Blueberries may sound like a boring cereal for mature audiences, but I think a milky bowl of this stuff could charm just about any cereal fan. If anything, I’d recommend scooping into some peanut butter before dunking your spoon into this stuff, just to give it another layer of liveliness.

In the end, if you’ve ever wondered just how far authentic blueberry flavor can go in a cereal, Special K with Blueberries is a shining example, even if it isn’t the most outwardly lustrous. Granted, I still much prefer Blueberry Special K with Lemon Clusters, just because yogurt clusters make anything better, but Special K with Blueberries is more focused with its flavor. A straight shooter ’til you hit the bowl’s bottom, this Special K is really something special.

The Bowl: Special K with Blueberries

The Breakdown: Simple and unpretentious, this is one of the most genuinely blueberried cereals out there. Just be advised, milk is a must if you don’t want to end breakfast with the Saharan sweats.

The Bottom Line: 8 downed Grapefellows out of 10