Okay, I love all things s’more, and I support the junk food craze of s’morifying just about everything. But if society’s going to continue its wonderful quest to inject graham-chocolate-marshmallow flavor into every cake, cookie, and cake-stuffed cookie crumble Frappuccino, we have to amke one thing clear: are we supposed to capitalize the “M” or not?
For so long, I treated the term “S’More” as an inflexible proper noun. Like any number of deities, to misprint its name as “s’more” was blasphemy worthy of campfires and brimstone. But now we do it all the time, as evidenced by Post’s new Honey Maid S’mores Cereal. Are we just supposed to accept this normalization of “s’more?” Is an artificially flavored s’more not subject to the same capitalized deification of the one true, fire-toasted S’More? Should I just stuff my mouth with this cereal so you don’t have to hear me babble about s’more theology?
I know at least one of those answers is a yes.
On the surface, Honey Maid S’mores looks just like Malt-O-Meal (which Post owns)’s Madagascar S’mores Jungle Party, a delightful treat that combined graham squares, chocolate puffs, and mini marshmallows to simulate a s’more’s iconic flavors, which form a more iconic trio than a first Star Wars films or a certain whipped chocolate bar.
But after tasting Honey Maid S’mores Cereal, something seems off. It’s too bland and decidedly un-s’morevelous. There’s the obvious explanation: I got too many sugary marshmallows in my first bowl, because all the more interesting pieces fell to the bottom (PSA: shake this box up like a tossed salad before you open it). But even after sampling the graham squares and chocolate puffs in isolation, they still feel cheaper than their Madagascan ancestors.
The squares have less defined ridges and only a thin honey glaze—Golden Grahams these are not. The chocolate puffs have a heartier crunch than Cocoa Puffs, but none of the real chocolate flavor (just faint twinkles of milk cocoa powder). And the tragically chewy and generically sweet marshmallows are a far cry from Lucky Charms’ crackling pops of vanilla-tinged sugar. So far, no good: aside from an oddly compelling smoked aftertaste, eating Honey Maid S’mores is isn’t as good as S’mores Jungle Party or the frankenstein’s cereal I could’ve assemble with the help of General Mills.
I have to wonder if Post’s recent tendency to “”””””improve”””””” their old cereals (I had to use so many quotes to emphasize that that was their word, not mine or the hundreds of people who are upset about new Honeycomb) is to blame for this s’less than memorable s’mores flavor.
Just like we all totally do with real toasted marshmallows over the campfire, I poured milk on my Honey Maid S’Mores Cereal to try improving its potency.
And whether you call it fighting campfire with campfire or creaminess with creaminess, it kind of worked. The marshmallows’ monopoly over this cereal’s flavor profile is loosened by milk’s soothing flow, and the graham squares get their chance to shine with honey-smacked, brown sugar-soaked bursts of golden-baked goodness.
Of course, this makes the chocolate puffs the true losers here, as they never get the cereal spotlight, dry or milked. The best they get is a supporting role in the graham squares’ leading dairy performance, as the puffs’ meek cocoa flavor provides a little buttery sweetness in the endnotes. Without the overbearing marshmallows, this ends up tasting a bit like my favorite Pop-Tart, Limited Edition Milk Chocolate Graham, but as you could probably tell by my use of words like “meek,” “a little,” and “a bit” that this graham-cocoa pairing isn’t tasty enough to dethrone Kellogg’s Smorz as the best s’mores cereal currently on the market.
Though I’ll never forgive Smorz for its brazen bastardization of the “S’Mores” name.
So between its poor flavor balance, shy chocolate wallflowers, and dubious ingredient quality, Honey Maid S’mores is a fun summer novelty at best, and a redundant downgrade at worst. If you’ve never experienced Madagascar S’mores Jungle Party or Malt-O-Meal S’mores, give this stuff a try. The rest of us are better off waiting for Honey Maid to bring back Teddy Grahams Breakfast Bears.
The Bowl: Honey Maid S’mores Cereal
The Breakdown: With too much marshmallow and over-sweetened fluff, as well as too little chocolate and graham that only grows vaguely Pop-Tart-esque in milk, this s’mores cereal is pretty “s’meh.”
The Bottom Line: 5.5 frankenstein cereals that don’t include Franken Berry out of 10
I really wish the original S’mores Grahams cereal would make a comeback. All these post og variants have missed the mark bigtime. Have you guys ever discussed S’mores Grahams on the podcast? It’s one of the more elusive cereals of my childhood, drifting in and out of circulation seemingly until it dissapeared for good somewhere in the late 80’s, but never forgotten. I’ll never give up hope, however.
Best cereal by far!
Okay so I guess I’m last to try these an I must say,” Post,you are something really near and dear to my heart after making this cereal”. There’s the right amount of everybody, not shorting me on my marshmallows. You’ve out done yourselves…..50 gold stars
In California it’s raining and when I ate the cereal today I felt like I am camping ⛺️ right now
Hands down, the BEST cereal I’ve ever had. And this is coming from a Reese’s Puffs fan! Our Walmart carried them just long enough to get us hooked like a crack dealer, and then all of a sudden they were gone…… However, thanks to Walmart.com and American Express, I’ve had two sererate 10 box orders smuggled to my house and therefore turned my UPS driver in my new crack dealer without him even knowing it! I have noticed something however that has me VERY concerned…… all 20 boxes have an expiration date of April 20, 2018. Choose your own 420/drug/addiction joke to insert here, but the biggest thing that tells me is that that big batch of s’mores goodness was all made at the same time and the clock is ticking on the current supply! With it not being stocked on the shelves anymore, and with only 5 short months until D-Day, are they firing up the campfires to get s’more (some-more…. hahaha) into production! I sure hope so! At least I can rest easy knowing that as my s’mores stash starts to expire, at least Home Run Crunch will be returning.
This review made me feel so much better about my cereal addiction 🙂
Oh, it’s the BEST cereal EVER!!! I loved it!! This whole review is so off about this cereal I can’t believe we’re talking about the same product. Please don’t go by this review alone. Try it for yourself and base your opinion on that.
I absolutely love love love this cereal! I came across your post while searching to see if it will continue. The day before Yesterday I bought 4 boxes. It was a hit. When I went to Wal-Mart a minute ago they were sold out. The day before Yesterday there was at least 50 boxes, at least. They were displayed on two end caps, plus had 2 rows on the cereal aisle filled. I could bet almost anything they have had outstanding sells. I’d be shocked and they’d be stupid not to keep this cereal. I read reviews on another site and they were 5/5. Sorry, but not sorry. I’m not a cereal person, and I’m hooked!
I absolutely loved this cereal! I appreciate your opinion and think you have gotten a bad box, but mine was so good I’m already stocking up on more.
I have found that most s’mores spinoffs are completely lacking in both graham cracker and marshmallow flavors (my favorite parts of real s’mores), but I thought that this cereal delivered both in spades! And the chocolate puffs added a slight hint of cocoa – they were definitely there but didn’t overwhelm the other elements. When I opened my box, I was hit with the intense aroma of graham crackers and toasted marshmallows. And I thought that the graham squares were substantial and well-covered in the sugary graham glaze.
I thought that the Honey Maid S’mores cereal looked and tasted exactly like both Madascar Jungle S’mores and the regular Malt-o-Meal versions – which I both loved. Out of curiosity, I nosed around the Post website to compare the ingredient lists and nutrition facts on all three of these cereals and guess what – they were ALL exactly the SAME! So maybe Post didn’t change the formula after all.
(BUT I also compared the ingredients and nutrition facts of the new Post Oreo’s cereal to the Malt-o-Meal version and those were actually different! Guess Post was too busy “improving” that classic favorite to bother “improving” this one – at least for now!
So while I love your website and respect your opinion, maybe you can try another box and see if you feel the same.
Either way, I’ll stay a loyal reader and huge fan of your outstanding website. Please keep up the great work – you keep all of us cereal fanatics me very well-informed and totally satisfied!
Thanks so much for the kindness, Tracey! Readers like you keep me passionate enough to write this blog. I’ll definitely have to try another box of this stuff. I might have been swayed by the placebo effect and lingering bitterness against Post for their grievous Honeycomb mistake.
Hey Dan! 😀
The rest of us are better off waiting for Honey Maid to being back Teddy Grahams Breakfast Bears. <— Shouldn't it be "bringing" back? ^^
It's so interesting to read what Post is doing here… messing up everything they build up… xD
As you said, they try to improve things and mess up big time! Even when cooperate with another huge brand they create a cereal that lacks power/taste. And not just compared to the cereal of their competitors but funnily enough to their "own" cereal too. I mean they had to change the taste. Everyone was expecting something different since "Honey Maid" was involved, but coming up with a cereal that taste less like S'Mores and graham pieces that didn't even resemble the taste of Honey Maid Crackers (?; i didn't read it in the review, if they do – never had them 😅)…
It must be hard to be in charge of all this change and see how bad you actually are doing your job right. I mean… there should be testings and no one ever mentioned that the changes will cause problems, because the final result doesn't taste as good as the former one? I can't believe it… and i also can't believe Honey Maid/Nabisco… wait… maybe i can believe Nabisco wanted the cereal to taste like this… i mean their Oreo Flavors aren't always good either xD
(As i wrote in the Alpha Bits Cereal Review, under some circumstances i can justify that change, as i somehow can with the change of Trix. That doesn't mean i can understand it and that it was a good choice, but trying to go healthier or less artifical is at least a reason and statement for changing things to worse. Still not smart, but hey…)
But fortunately for you guys, there are enough good alternatives out there. Which brings me to the next topic: Since when do you prefer Smorz oder the Madagascar S'Mores Cereal? If i remember correctly you didn't gave it a 9 or 10 and had always high praises for the Madagascar S'Mores, no? What changed? ^^
Last but not least:
May ask a question? How do you review the cereal?
Because I know, and i actually do the same when i try new cereal, eating the stuff dry is the first thing you have to do, but except for a few special exceptions (KRAVE!) they are supposed to be eaten with milk, no?
So, why am i asking? Somehow it seems, at least for me, the "milk part" is less important in your reviews. Not that it is less important for you or for the final score, but sometimes it reads like "ahh and btw… in milk the taste is a bit better", "oh! almost forgot, we also have to try it in milk and it's better", "not surprisingly milk makes it a bit better", while there was a huge part about the cereal not tasting good or like it should taste according what was "promised", that based on eating the cereal dry. I hope you don't get me wrong here and the language barrier doesn't create some upsets, it's in no way meant to be offensive. I just don't get the idea of saying a product doesn't taste like something it should taste, while not eating it as was supposed to be eaten. Cereal is most probably designed to free the real taste while eaten with milk and if the taste is good and accordingly: perfect. If not: they messed up big time. And we all know there are enough examples for the last, (even though the cereal tasted better dry; KRAVE?! ^^)
So what do i want to say: It just feels like the "Dry-Part" gets more attention in your review lately. Which is OK, but i think is not fair for the cereal, no?
Sorry for the wall of text Dan 🙁
Good catch on the typo, thanks.
As for the review structure, it’s not that I don’t place much weight on the milk component, it’s that by the time I’ve sampled it dry, the addition of milk rarely changes enough to write a lot more detail about the flavor notes—hence the brevity. Rest assured, both components get equal weight when choosing a score. And I say equal, because I know many, many people who believe dry is the way cereal should be eaten. Maybe it’s more common in America.
Dan! \o/
See, that’s what i meant with “language barrier”. 😀
I never meant the statement to be offensive or to question you not weighting dry and milk results equally (’cause i know you do). The odd “milk parts” of your review were just something i noticed recently and had to mention it. But you’re right, it’s hard to come up with something, when the taste is really similar to the dry expierience. It actually makes a lot of sense now. xD
So: My bad! Sorry Dan! 🙁 (Don’t hate me for bringing it up! 🙁 )
😉 ^^
I’m not sure how popular eating dry cereal in the US really is, but i think it’s quite popular here to. I mean my Grandma always ate Honey Smacks dry, i can assure you, that Krave was never meant to be eaten with milk 😉 and i like a handful of CTC or Cheerios to. I even think some cereals make a good (or great) substitute for popcorn when it comes to movie nights, but meant to eaten dry… hm…🤔
NO! 😉
Was considering getting it this morning but after reading this review I’m glad I have it a pass. I just got two boxes of Oreo O’s instead haha
You should have read all the other amazing reviews. This is most definitely one of the best cereals I’ve had. Yes it is like Golden Grahams, Cocoa Puffs, and yummy marshmallows. The crunch stays the whole time. Seriously, give it a shot.
I LOVE this cereal! Tried it for the first time last night and I was in heaven. Shows we all have different tastes!