As I opened my box of Cap’n Crunch’s Orange Creampop Crunch, a frosty symphony played in my head.
Ice cream truck music, the steady drip of melting banana splits, and a chorus of kids groaning at terrible popsicle stick jokes: yes, this was the sound, the smell, and the edible heartbeat of summer itself.
I encourage you all to play this on loop as your read on.
But let me first take you back, because this cereal has a history. The trademark for Cap’n Crunch’s Orange Creampop Crunch was filed way back in November of 2015, but it wasn’t discovered until this January by master snack detective Candy Hunting.
This left cereal fans everywhere desperately wondering for months whether the cereal would actually exist, or if it was just a cruel joke by Quaker’s lawyers to get back at society for its millions of lawyer jokes.
We searched and searched for any info on the cereal: a tweet, a grainy snapshot, heck, even a misspelled bit of “Captain Crunch Orange Popsicle” graffiti would suffice.
Thankfully the citrus fates were on our side, as in early June, Orange Cream Pop Crunch hit shelves for real. As of July 25th, it has only been seen at Jewel Osco stores in the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa area, Albertson’s in Las Vegas, ACME stores in Delaware, Market Street in Texas, and Safeway in Seattle.
I’m sure it’ll (quite literally) pop up more places soon, but for now, they might as well have called it “Limited Limited Edition.”
Now on to the orange stuff itself.
I was briefly worried this wouldn’t taste like orange Creamsicles at all, since the ingredients don’t list orange or vanilla anything. I thought the Cap’n might have pulled a Krave and just dribbled in leftover Halloween food coloring.
A whiff and a munch was all it took to restore my faith in humanity—both the real and exaggerated nautical cartoon variety. This isn’t simply an orange colored Cap’n Crunch…
…but it isn’t simply a Cap’n Crunch-shaped orange cereal, either. It’s an orange coated Cap’n Crunch that carries the best of both worlds.
At its base, it’s the Cap’n we know and love, smacking with golden browned coconut oil. It’s got a crunch with an attitude, and it’ll still mess up the roof of your mouth like an accidental jab from a balsa wood popsicle stick.
The coating on every piece makes it, though. It tastes eerily like an orange Creamsicle/Dreamsicle by combining a sweet and juicy bite of orange fruit flavor with a delightfully creamy, yet subtle vanilla finish.
The orange isn’t zesty or sour in any way. Instead, it’s got the pleasantly candied tropical citrus taste you’d expect from an Orange Starburst or a bowl of orange sherbet.
Combined with the toasty and buttery base, Cap’n Crunch’s Orange Cream Pop Crunch is a complex breakfast beast that hungry historians and sogginess scholars will be studying for decades.
Just imagine someone took an orange Creamsicle and served it to you on an edible, sweetly deep fried stick.
But speaking of sogginess, this stuff will never get soggy. That’s because it tastes so good in milk, your bowl will be empty before you can say “fruit punchatize me, Cap’n!”
Adding milk cranks up the vanilla ice cream creaminess, while the orange develops a more syrupy twang, as if a young orange tree burrowed its roots right into the slightly orange tinted end milk.
Of course, I had to test whether popping a bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes would turn it into a genuine, crunchy Creamsicle, and of course, it did! This is the absolute best way to eat Orange Creampop Crunch, but be wary of crippling brain freeze headaches.
Crunchatize me, Aspirin!
There’s nothing bad about this wonderful cereal, except for the shame I felt after gobbling down a fortnight’s worth of it in a night. Even if you don’t like orange, I recommend you give it a shot for a fun twist on the classic Cap’n Crunch formula.
Heck, even the box oozes fun. With a gorgeous teal and orange them that puts even Ecto-Cooler’s color palette to shame and a bunch of fun activities on the back (including a word search that contains “poop” more than once), this one’s going down in history.
And while we’re talking about history: holy throwback! While the recent HomeRun Crunch had a cameo by Quisp the alien, Orange Creampop Crunch features longtime Crunch nemesis Jean LaFoote, Quisp’s forgotten rival Quake, fellow orange cereal mascot Simon (from Quangaroos), and even the most obscure of all: Wilma the Winsome White Whale from 1971’s Vanilly Crunch Cereal!
Well done, Orange Creampop Crunch: you’re a tastebud entertainer and a cereal time machine all in one. Now if you’ll excuse me, my brain is melting for at least three different reasons.
The Bowl: Cap’n Crunch’s Orange Creampop Crunch
The Breakdown: It tastes like an ice cream treat, it smells like summer, and it feels like childhood: orange lovers and loathers alike should all scream for this Creampop.
The Bottom Line: 10 Limited Limited Limited Edition cereals out of 10
(Quick Nutrition Facts: 110 calories, <1 gram of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein per 3/4 cup serving)
***A huge thanks goes to friend of Cerealously, Pop-Tart news leaker, and redditor /u/boyfoster for sending me this box. It’s because of him that I was able to write this review instead of driving countless hours to Illinois! Thanks again!***
If you’re hungry for more Orange Creampop Crunch, our snack food-loving shipmates over at Junk Banter and The Impulsive Buy have reviews, too!
Are they going to ever start making the cereal again? It was Dynamite
HEY QUAKER ? PEPSI ? How ’bout sum Quisp, Quake and Quangaroos all up in this buisnich???
Loved this cereal!! Wish I could buy more!
The pop word search was poorly thought out. Third line down all the way on the left. I found 4 others as well.
They just popped up at Vons in Ventura, CA along with the Ballpark Crunch. Can’t wait to try them both!!
I found it at Market Street in Midland TX
They are now tweeting the Orange Creampop stuff: https://twitter.com/RealCapnCrunch/status/755114271755866114
Also… do we know if this flavor will ever be made more widely available?
Sorry Christian, as a member of an externally sourced design agency, Ed likely has no say over revived flavors. You’d be better off asking him over Twitter to get a better idea. As for Orange Creampop Crunch’s availability, its existence was only just formally announced on Cap’n Crunch’s Twitter account less than a week ago. No word on specifics, but I’d guess it’ll probably go national within a month.
Yeah, I understood that maybe he doesn’t and indicated as much. I’m just wondering why in the world they don’t bring Vanilly Crunch back, even if only for a limited time. I do remember eating it and liking it.
Perhaps it didn’t sell well, perhaps it’s too sugary to exist in today’s market. I actually have another theory on Cap’n Crunch’s limited edition strategy in my recent editorial post, if you haven’t read it already:
https://www.cerealously.net/how-capn-crunch-is-quietly-winning-the-war-against-cereal/
Yeah, I don’t know. They can bring it back or not bring it back. I don’t know if being too sugary would be the explanation though. It seems like some of the other varieties (e.g., Sprinkled Donut) would probably be more sugary.
I’ve pondered it before and wondered if maybe they lost the recipe but don’t want to admit it. Or maybe that isn’t the case either.
Oh the childhood memories of Vanilly Crunch! To this day it’s best breakfast cereal I ever had. I wrote Quaker a couple of years ago and expressed how I still crave Vanilly Crunch and asked if it would be reintroduced. They responded back (we’re sorry) but no current plans to bring it back. If 1/2 million Vanilly Crunch fans would contact the company, maybe they would!
Dan, maybe you can write to Ed Griffin and suggest that he try to get Quaker to bring back Vanilly Crunch. He may not have full decision-making power on this, but it sounds like he has some sort of an in.
ACME Stores In delaware CONFIRMED!
Thanks!! Adding it to the list.
Does anyone know where I can buy this cereal? I’ve checked 4 stores already, with no luck.
They’ve only been spotted in Jewel-Osco and Albertson’s stores as far as I know. 🙁
Just picked up a box of this at Albertson’s in Las Vegas. Delish. Reminds me of what I wished OJ’s cereal had tasted like all those years ago.
Wow, cool! Glad to hear it’s made it’s way outside of the midwest.
How does the taste compare to 2013 version of Fruity Yummy Mummy?
Yummy Mummy is much more “corny” in the base flavor, while Cap’n Crunch’s is more buttery and oat-y. The coatings taste similar, but Yummy Mummy has marshmallows to bump up the vanilla factor.
No hits on Amazon or eBay yet so a road trip to find these things may be unavoidable! Lol
I wish you luck if you do go. These puppies are worth it!
EBay now has a box listed for the low low price of $14.99 plus 5.99 shipping. Unbelievable. Obviously not a foodie who knows our pain when we can’t find something and fear we’ll miss out on trying it forever!
I’m in southeastern Ohio so a quest to find this incredible sounding cereal would cost me 8-12 hours round trip. I drove that far for the orange creme pop tarts when they came out 6 or 7 years ago so I guess history may repeat itself. I can’t wait to try this stuff!
What does this Mean??? Will they bring back Quake?? or is this merely a small gesture of recognition???
I wish, but I’m guessing this was just a one-time gesture of fan service. It would probably be too expensive for Quaker to produce Cap’n Crunch, Quisp, and Quake—three very similarly flavored cereals.
I would absolutely love for Quaker to re-introduce Vanilly Crunch, though!
Much in the way some of us wish Mr. T cereal was back too!
Hey Dan! Thanks for the great review! I am the designer and illustrator of Cap’n Crunch cereal for over 20 years now and I really appreciate the positive feedback. I would love to link your article to our social media outlets if that’s ok… let me know what you think and thanks in advance!
I Crunchatize You!!
Ed
Ed, can you please convince them to bring back Vanilly Crunch?
Thanks for your great work on Orangepop Crunch and for including all the vintage characters on the box…I hope they make their way back into the commercials too! I’d just like to ask 2 things…
1. The Cap’n has a huge artificial smile now that looks weird and creepy…like Roger Ebert after the surgery (look it up)..please make his smile more natural..please?
2. Bring back Jean LaFootes Cinnamon Cereal
Keep up the good work!
I live in NYC but I am going to be in Indianapolis on monday for work. I guess God really does have a plan for all of us…
Oh hot darn! I’m eager to hear if you like them as much as me..