Evolution is a slow process, one that’s unlikely for an individual to fully witness. That’s why it’s taken me so long to write about Banana Special K—this is a cereal brand that debuts new flavors in geological increments. With no fanfare and little variation in box design, trying to spot a new Special K is like trying to spot a new paint sample at Home Depot from three aisles over.

As an on-the-beat cereal blogger who lives in the milky moment—the ever-crunchy now—I could scarcely tell Banana Special K (which actually came out closer to January) from Vanilla & Almond.

But it’s better late than never, so I’ll try to make this quick—err, I mean Kwik. With a capital K.

On a recent Empty Bowl episode, we broke down our favorite banana cereals, which made me realize that most ‘nanner noshes fall into two categories: those that focus on the spritely fruit’s flavor in a normal or whipped-up context, and others that add the darker, ripe sweetness of the whole banana baked good. Sure, there are exceptions: it peels my pride to say this, but Minions Banana Berry cereal is one of the very best.

Banana Special K certain takes the bananas au naturel approach, as the distinctly bananian smell of this cereal alone could upturn a Mario Kart. Special K flakes are pretty chameleon-like, letting their presiding flavor overpower any wholesome grain nuance the flake might have. So in this cereal, there is no reprieve from the unrelenting bursts of straight-up banana flavoring—granted, it is a genuine fruit flavor, far from a candied Laffy Taffy. But ultimately, the flakes are sweetly banana’d enough that when I finally got to a dried banana chip, I simply couldn’t take any more banana—let alone a sharply sweet and awkwardly textured landmine of it.

Dry or in milk, Banana Special K is only for diehard fans of the fruit. If the prospect of tasting nothing but banana for the entire 8-10 bowls you’ll get out of each box gives you the wide grin of Donkey Kong, then go ahead and buy this stuff by the barrelful. Otherwise, there are other banana cereals out there that deliver a more nuanced banana breakfast experience, like Banana Nut Cheerios or Nilla Banana Pudding Cereal. Heck, even Raisin Bran managed to pull off the dried banana gimmick better than this.

In the end, Banana Special K is perfect for a very specific audience: the kind of banana lover whose comparative love for the fruit will have them paying black market clowns to put a big whipped hit out on me after reading this sacrilegious post.

Please, whatever you do: just avoid the hair.

The Bowl: Banana Special K

The Breakdown: Basically just a big bowl of crunchy (and sometimes chewy) banana, this fragrant cereal fires on one big, curved yellow cylinder, without offering much depth beyond this.

The Bottom Line: 5.5 banana heretics out of 10

(Quick Nutrition Facts: 160 calories, 18 grams of sugar, 3 grams of fiber, & 3 grams of protein per 1 cup serving)

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