The weirdest thing about this cereal is not the flavor...if you can believe it. The weirdest thing is the back of the cereal box, where Cap'n Cruch is dressed like a lumberjack. While I applaud the Cap'n for his apparent career change, it made me wonder. Why a lumberjack? And why is he still in his nautical uniform on the front (which, by the way, appears to be that of a commander rather than a captain)?
At first, I surmised that Quaker Oats was going to tie the "blueberry" flavor into Babe, the giant blue ox...with the Cap'n as Paul Bunyan. And, indeed, there is a blue ox on the box (but no fox wearing socks). Yet, the predominant image is not the ox, but a purple Bigfoot. And he's wearing a T-shirt that says "Santa Cruz Blueberry Snails." And the Cap'n's word balloon indicates that his new crunch is "made from trees only found in Crunch Forrest." (Personally, I think he must have been eating too many of the mushrooms found in Crunch Forrest. But I digress...)
I'm certainly not a stranger to blueberry cereals, as Boo Berry remains my favorite of the General Mills' monster cereals which they release every October. Blueberry Pop Tarts are among my favorites, and the blueberry pie Oreo cookies rated highly with me. But, in this case, the problem is not with the blueberry flavor...it's the pancake!
[On the off chance that someone reading this is a friend of a friend or a family member who knows someone who works for Kellogg's, Nabisco, General Mills, Hershey's or Hostess, please do me a favor. Please tell them that maple ≠ pancakes!]
This is the same mistake that Brachs made with their "breakfast brunch" candy corn! They overloaded the candy with maple flavoring and called one French Toast and the other pancakes. With this cereal, the moment you open the bag your nose will be assaulted by an overpowering whiff of sickeningly-sweet maple...which, frankly, doesn't smell like anything you might want to eat. And certainly not like something you want to pour milk over. But, if you are brave enough to press on, you'll discover that the cereal itself doesn't taste bad at all. In fact, the maple is more prevalent in the scent rather than the actual taste, which is definitely blueberry.
Unfortunately, though, this is still Cap'n Crunch. Think of the round, softer Crunch Berries, and not the original crunchier squares. So, the cereal is a corn and oat "puff" ball, more like Trix and Kix, which means it gets soggy in milk almost immediately. While I didn't necessarily miss the marshmallows that Boo Berry has, I would prefer a cereal with a crunch that could withstand the milk for just a little while longer. If you agree, stick with Blueberry Mini-Wheats or wait for Boo Berry in the fall. But if you don't mind the mushiness, and aren't eating this for the missing pancake taste, Blueberry Pancake Crunch isn't bad at all.
RATING: 3/5
