For someone who has allegedly sworn to keep his neolithic neighbor from sampling his cereal, Fred sure is holding that bowl of overflowing Cinnamon Pebbles dangerously close to a spoon-wielding Barney.

Could Post’s newest Pebbles cereal be tasty enough to settle eons-old breakfast rivalries? Is Barney secretly wearing pterodactyl slippers to get a silent jump on Fred’s mammoth bowl? Or has the cascading cinnamon stick over these lovable neanderthals’ heads inspired them to set their differences aside, as they realize that their prehistoric climate is about to be disrupted not by a meteor, but by an astronomically large spice tube?

Such questions may never be answered, unless Post releases a mail-away Cinnamon Pebbles Compendium. But there’s one question I can help answer right now: are Cinnamon Pebbles yabba-dabba-delicious? Or should they be left to prehistory, with their long-discontinued cousin: Cinna-Crunch Pebbles?

Let me give you the short answer, first: Cinnamon Pebbles taste just like the smashed-up, swirly cereal shards at the bottom of every Cinnamon Toast Crunch bag.

For some of you, that sentence is enough to leave you kicking up dust in your Flintstones footmobile all the way to the grocery store. But for those of you with apprehensions or untrained legs, allow me to provide a more detailed flavor breakdown.

From the beginning, I wondered if Cinnamon Pebbles would be spicy or sweet. The box may say “CINNAMON SWEET TASTE,” but that giant cinnamon stick is propelled by a rather sinister auburn afterburn. And the claim is made in aggressive all-capital letters. Can I really trust a shouting cinnamon stick not to hurt me?

Of course, as any Pebbles veteran could guess, Cinnamon Pebbles are very sweet. In fact, I sensed nary a nibble of real cinnamon spice, as my Pebble-munching palate was caressed instead by drool-worthy cinnamon sugar—with a heavy emphasis on the “sugar.” Every spoonful of this crisped rice is so smacked with lip-smacking, golden browned cinnamon sweetness that you’d think Fred and Barney stuck a spigot into a Cinnabon core, siphoned out the juices, and basted the stuff onto their Cinnamon Pebbles.

But like a Cinnabon shamefully eaten in an airport restroom, this sinfully rich cinnamon bliss is short-lived. Neither Fruity nor Cocoa Pebbles are known for their long-lasting flavors, but Cinnamon is even more of a “flash in the pan” cereal. While Cinnamon Pebbles may give your taste buds a cozy hug on the first bite, by the second bite that cinnamon flavor has already packed its bags, booked a flight to Reno, and left a Hallmark card saying “it’s not you; it’s me.”

Like most dates gone awry, all that’s left behind is airy disappointment, flavorless rice, and the faintest aftertaste of Cinnamon Teddy Grahams.

Cinnamon Pebbles may suck up milk like a mammoth at a watering hole and form attractive, goldenly glistening mounds, but if you don’t eat them with the speed of a velociraptor, they’ll just taste like milky mush. By taking big spoonfuls (I recommend investing in an ice cream scoop or soup ladle), you can make Cinnamon Pebbles’ “raw cinnamon bun ore” flavor last longer, but the creamy fun is still fleeting.

Cinnamon Pebbles will appeal to three very specific groups of cereal lovers: those who like their sugar rushes fast and potent, those so time-strapped in the morning that they must gobble down cereal and milk without chewing, and those who want to top their ice cream with something more exciting than sprinkles.

These are all valid ways to eat cereal, but I’m a more methodical “cerealist.” Cinnamon Pebbles are worth trying at least once, but I’d rather savor some spicy Cinnamon Frosted Flakes or a lasting bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I can always dip into CTC’s mythical cereal dust if I need a more concentrated sugar fix.

Now if Post combined Cinnamon Pebbles with their tragically discontinued Sugar Cookie Pebbles to make Snickerdoodle Pebbles, that would be a different story. Just sayin’.

The Bowl: Post Cinnamon Pebbles Cereal

The Breakdown: While they may pack a delightfully intense punch of unadulterated cinnamon roll essence, Cinnamon Pebbles fail to follow up this opening jab with anything more than a mediocre rice pummel.

The Bottom Line: 6 industrial Cinnabon mines out of 10

(Quick Nutrition Facts: 120 calories, 0 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein per 3/4 cup serving)

***Check out our friends at Junk Banter’s review, too!***