CATEGORY
Honey Nut Os Breakfast Cereal
2008 CHEFSBEST® AWARD FOR BEST TASTE WINNER
Cheerios®
What Makes a Great Honey Nut O's Cereal?
O’s was one of the first breakfast cereals marketed to American families in the first half of the twentieth century. In the decades since, the basic goodness of these buoyant bits of oats have made it one of the country's most iconic breakfast foods.
Our chefs look for a relatively even bake and size between individual pieces of o's cereal, as well as a crisp and crunchy texture that persists from the first bite to the last.
The cereal’s aroma should be nothing short of bright and fresh, with notes of wheat, grain, toast, malt, honey, and nut all shining through. Given honey’s significant role in this cereal, moderate to high sweetness should be the most evident basic taste, with a low to moderate level of saltiness following.
Of course, any honey nut cereal isn’t worth its value unless its namesake flavors shine through. The intensity of both flavors — honey and nut — should be low but identifiable, while the grain's flavor works best when at a moderate level.
After soaking for one minute in milk, the cereal's flavor should complement the milk, with the grain's flavor intensifying even as its sweetness is reduced. And since nobody prefers a soggy bowl of o’s over a crunchy one, it’s best if the cereal remains moderately crunchy in milk.
We know what makes a great honey nut o's cereal, but what makes a bad one?
Honey nut o's cereals that rated less than the best with our panel of expert chefs were plagued by overt stickiness in the mouth, while another issue for these underachieving cereals was stale aroma.
Why is Honey Nut Cheerios® cereal the best honey nut o's cereal?
Our chefs were thrilled with Honey Nut Cheerios cereals penchant for remaining crunchy in milk, as well as with the way it retained its excellent mix of sweet and grainy flavors in milk. The cereal's overall performance even prompted one chef to request a second bowl!
This judging was for honey nut o's cereal, not including other ready-to-eat or hot cereals.
Other Leading Brands:
Malt-O-Meal Honey Nut Scooters, Quaker Honey Graham Oh’s
ONE-STEP IDEAS
O’s can be fashioned into edible necklaces for kids! Use thin string or dental floss.
For an infusion of fresh fruit, drop in some chopped banana or blueberries.
Use o’s as a base in a snack mix with pretzels and crackers.
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TASTING
TERMINOLOGY
PRODUCT
FUN FACTS
- Honey nut-flavored o’s cereal was introduced in 1979 as the first variant of o’s — nearly forty years after the original flavor first hit market shelves.
- The first style of mass-manufactured breakfast cereal in the 1920s was made of puffed grains.
- The main ingredient of the earliest hand-made cereals was heavy bran nuggets that required hours of soaking.
The ChefsBest Award for Best Taste is awarded to the brand rated highest overall among leading brands by independent professional chefs.
