To whom it may concern — which includes people around New England and Ben Affleck — Dunkin’ is releasing a line of cereals with Post.
The two flavors — mocha latte and caramel macchiato — should be available at Walmart, Stop & Shop, and Wegmans around Aug. 22. The boxes boast that the product is made with Dunkin’ coffee. (Roughly a 10th of a cup, according to Dunkin'.) A serving of the cereals (one and a third cup) is 150 calories and 18 grams of sugar.
As the cereal website says, “Now you can have your coffee and eat it, too!”
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The packaging is fun to look at; the boxes are bright, and there are facts about Dunkin’ on the back. But is the cereal any good?
We taste-tested them and are ready with our reviews. And by “we” I mean my 35-year-old friend who enjoys food (and mixed drinks) that taste like dessert, a 10-year-old I know who is very good at explaining things, and me, a fan of foods that taste like a bucket of sugar.
The 10-year-old also wants you to know that she will be 11 literally any day now.
For context, some sugar cereals that the three of us enjoy include Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, and Cap’n Crunch.
The 35-year-old’s take: She said that of the two cereal flavors, she likes caramel macchiato the best. Although upon a first taste, outside of her house, she told me it reminded her of Dunkin’ so much that she immediately thought of her pre-pandemic routine, including a broken-down T and the pressure to return e-mails. “Or rushing to a 9 a.m. meeting that should have been an e-mail,” she later added. This one does well with milk, she reported, while mocha latte should be consumed dry. Both flavors might be preferable as an ice cream topping. A small dose is key, she said.
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The 10-year-old’s take: These cereals are not better than Cocoa Puffs. Why? “Cocoa Puffs are Cocoa Puffs,” she explained. “They’re amazing.” The 10-year-old did admit that the coffee aftertaste of Dunkin’ cereal might not be her kind of thing. She noted that her mother preferred the mocha latte flavor.
Also, she said the smell of both cereals reminded her of being in a Yankee Candle store. Waxy and sweet. She had a suggestion for Dunkin’ as the company thinks more about these products: “They should make a doughnut flavored cereal.” Of course.
My review: Do you remember Count Chocula? Of course you do. Well, imagine that he has a more complicated, older cousin who lives in Massachusetts. This man is a more sarcastic and wizened count, and these cereals — Dunkin’s new flavors — would be his preference, specifically the caramel macchiato.
A note to Affleck, who has been spotted by paparazzi holding a Dunkin’ iced coffee almost weekly (and sometimes daily) during this pandemic: I suspect that either of these cereals would taste good inside of a hot cup of Dunkin’ coffee. It would be like the Boston version of marshmallows in hot chocolate.
In fact, that might be breakfast tomorrow.