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Friday, July 11, 2003
Serial (Cereal) Analysis
I just bought a box of Kellogg's Smorz (that's actually how they spell it) cereal at Target earlier this week. In trying out a new cereal, much analysis has to be completed to verify if it will be a "repeat-buy" or a "never-again for me" item (there's one lower level, which is the "warn-the-world-how-bad-it-is," but few things are that bad).
So the various testing phases are (in order): 1) catchy box, 2) reputed brand (I don't dig generics), 3) affordable price, 4) sound, 5) smell, 6) taste, 7) sog-resistance, and 8) residual milk-flavor. [note: healthiness is not a factor in judging a cereal, otherwise things like Total Raisin Bran or regular Fruit n' Fibre might come out on top]
1) If you click on the link, you'll see that indeed the box was catchy looking. 2) And coming from Kellogg's (famous for Tony the Tiger and annoying commercials about Apple Jacks), I trusted the product. 3) It was on sale for only $2, a price matched only by Honey Graham Oh's. 4) The initial sound of pouring the Smorz in my bowl was discouraging. Unlike my Multigrain Cheerios, which pitter and patter into glass bowls (signifying that they are lightly crunchy), the Smorz had a dampened (almost cushioned) sound to them. To me, that indicated that the texture/crunchiness might not be to my liking (although I've been fooled before.. the best example being Waffle Crisp, which doesn't sound good pouring out, but oh boy is it crunchy!). Lo and behold, I was wrong about the sound, and the Smorz were good and crunchy. 5) Chocolate smells good, 'nuff said. 6) This had to be one of the sweetest cereals I've ever tasted.. SO sugary! There was just enough chocolate and graham cracker flavoring to make it so that it didn't just taste like eating sugar cubes. Definitely not something moms (or dentists) would appreciate kids eating. 7) I am unlike some Asians who prefer their cereal to be soggy (hence Frosted Flakes in Taiwan are known as "30-second flakes," because people put milk in and wait 30 seconds for the flakes to soften up before eating it.. *yuck*). By the time I finished, the floating pieces were still fairly crunchy. 8) Finally, drinking the milk in the end was reminiscent of having a cup of chocolate milk (in terms of flavor and sweetness). I recommend chilling it because by the time I finished my big Ikea bowl of cereal, the milk had cooled to room temp, and milk definitely tastes better cold.
Overall: Two thumbs up for Smorz. "Kid Tested; Mothers (probably wouldn't) Approve."
11:30 AM Albert
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..a life in DUO