Black Friday must have gone too far this time.

Since the shop-and-stomp bonanza keeps starting earlier and earlier—now beginning well into Thanksgiving Day—our favorite turkey munching holiday has also been forced to start early. Over 3 months early, in fact.

At least, this is the only reasonable explanation I can think of that Kashi Sweet Potato Sunshine cereal is already on store shelves. Because this cereal tastes like Thanksgiving dinner in your cereal bowl.

Hopefully the summer sun doesn’t melt any giant Snoopy balloons.

As a big fan of Kashi’s other sunshine cereal, Honey Sunshine, which is like Cap’n Crunch if it were matured and barrel-aged like a fine whiskey, I have high hopes and expectations for Sweet Potato Sunshine.

Tearing into the box like a kid who asked for sweet potatoes for Christmas (I hear “Tickle Me Tuberous Vegetable” toys are flying off the shelves), my excited sniff of the cereal leaves me with very little. All I can smell is a faint starchiness, which, for all I know, could just be the scent of the cardboard box.

Taking a dry munch of the sepia-toned flakes, which look like store brand bran flakes, their initial taste and crunch factor is similar to bran flakes, too. It’s hearty, wheat-y, and a bit boring.

I chew them a bit longer, and hey, there’s the molasses the box bragged about! Not to be confused with “mole asses,” it’s a dark, resonating sweetness that is pleasant without being overbearing.

I chew them even longer, and as the molasses takes a backseat, the power of potato comes out in full force. However, it’s less of a recognizable “Yep, that’s potato” sensation than it is a generic “harvest vegetable” taste. This could just as easily be a pumpkin, squash, or yam cereal (in which case I would suggest the name “OkonkwO’s“). It’s a cornucopia of earthy, natural flavor that is made endearing by the light sweetness you’d expect from the namesake potato.

However, I can’t recommend eating these dry, as the flakes are a bit too vegetable-y on their own. Besides, milk brings out the best in Sweet Potato Sunshine.

Why? It turns them into pumpkin pie!

Let me explain. When submerged in milk, the light cinnamon notes I couldn’t sense earlier come out, and the molasses becomes noticeably spicier. These combine with the “harvest vegetable” taste to faithfully mimic the best darn pie to ever hit Thanksgiving dinner tables (sorry, pecan pie, but your nuttiness ain’t got nuttin’ on pumpkin).

The milk even brings to mind the moist creaminess of the pie’s orange innards, and the crispy flakes serve as the crust.

Keep in mind it’s nothing like the commercialized “pumpkin spice” (which has always greatly differed from real pumpkin pie flavor), and it isn’t all that sweet, either, so if you’re looking for that kind of fall flavor, you may need to seek out other options. A slight, starchy aftertaste tends to linger, too.

But if you’re just looking for a cereal to get you in the mood for the autumn harvest, Thanksgiving, and the darn good pies and veggies that come with it, then buckle your seatbelts and hats, pilgrims! Because you’re in for a sweet surprise here.

Just don’t forget the whipped cream on top.

The Bowl: Kashi Sweet Potato Sunshine

The Breakdown: A non-specific autumn vegetable flavor combines with molasses and cinnamon’s natural, light sweetness to make the closest thing to pumpkin pie cereal you’ll probably ever taste.

The Bottom Line: 7 obscure references to books I read in high school out of 10