“Cheerios” are one of the most recognizable cereal brands out there. For many, it’s one of the first things that comes to mind when the word cereal is mentioned. However there are several different variants of “Cheerios” ranging in quality. 

Starting off there are the original “Cheerios.” Quite possibly the most basic and vanilla cereal out there. However, it serves as a great bar to judge other cereals by. While relatively bland in taste, one will never be let down by “Cheerios.” They’re consistently average and they’ve been like that ever since they debuted in 1941. On top of that, “Cheerios” are a pretty decent cereal when eaten dry as well. And their lackluster taste makes them a great use in snack mixes as they add a nice crunch while not having an overwhelming flavor to them. 

Then there are “Honey Nut Cheerios,” which takes the original “Cheerios” and improves upon them in every way. All “Honey Nut Cheerios” really did was add a bit of sweetness to the “Cheerios” formula, however, it made all the difference. While still having some of that “Cheerios” blandness, it’s sweet enough to stand on its own. Although, the sweetness isn’t so overpowering to the point of being too much. All of these factors make “Honey Nut Cheerios” the best version of “Cheerios.”

Unfortunately, the variations of “Cheerios” peak with “Honey Nut Cheerios,” as after that the different flavors begin to go downhill. There are many other types of “Cheerios” but they all fail to capture the same bland simplicity that the original has. Some hardly even taste like “Cheerios.” It almost feels like they just attached many of these flavors to the “Cheerios” brand, despite them deviating far from the original “Cheerios.”

One such flavor is “Chocolate Cheerios.” While the idea of “Cheerios” now having a chocolatey hint of them is intriguing, these hardly feel like “Cheerios” at all. Instead they just taste like a generic chocolate cereal for which there are much better options. Another flavor that misses the mark is “Frosted Cheerios.” A pretty similar story to “Chocolate Cheerios,” as they don’t really feel like Cheerios and there are far superior options available. Then there is “Apple Cinnamon Cheerios.” While not as disappointing as the other two, this flavor still isn’t great. It attempts to accomplish the same thing “Honey Nut Cheerios” did, but the cinnamon comes off way too strong, eliminating any potential this cereal had. 

“Cheerios” are one of the most iconic cereals on the market, which is why so many of its different variants fail to live up to the original. But at the very least, “Honey Nut Cheerios” stand on their own and are not only the best version of “Cheerios,” but one of the best cereals out there.