While most cereals are made with corn, that's not the only base ingredient they can be made from. Cereals can also be made from wheat and rice. Corn cereals are especially prevalent and have many uses other than breakfast. On the other hand, wheat cereals often make for a more filling breakfast.
Types of Cereals
Wheat-Based Cereals
Wheat cereals are among the healthiest cereals available. These types of cereals can be enjoyed both hot and cold. They usually contain more protein than other types of cereal (rice and corn). Hot cereals are known as porridge and are typically cooked or at least heated. Some of these porridges include cream of wheat, oatmeal, and grits. Milk or water is often combined with these types of cereal to dampen them.
Corn-Based Cereals
Breakfast cereals consumed plain or with milk are considered cold cereals and are more popular types. These cereals come ready to eat right out of the box and are often made of rice or corn. Unlike wheat-based cereals, corn cereals are heavily processed to prep them for packaging and consumption.
Rice-Based Cereal
Rice is another type of cereal grain that originates from Africa and Asia. This cereal type is widely cultivated and sold, ranking only behind wheat and corn in global demand. Rice can be consumed without significant preparation and can also be used as an ingredient for other meals throughout the day.
Popular Cereals
Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Cereal enthusiasts will swear Cinnamon Toast Crunch is the best-tasting cereal ever; we'll let you be the judge of that. The cereal, from manufacturer General Mills, is sweet but also contains salt to give it a zesty taste. This cereal sogs moderately quickly. However, the soft remains are always tasty and slough off just enough of that sugar and flavor to make a nice bowl of cereal milk in the morning (or at night).
Honey Nut Cheerios
It may or may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's hard to deny the dedication to the craft that is Honey Nut Cheerios. Crunchy, oaty, and sweet, Honey Nut Cheerios manages to outwit you into thinking you're eating something healthy and not just another sugar-filled breakfast.
Cocoa Puffs
If you remember Sonny the Cuckoo Bird from all of those commercials back in the day, chances are, you've tried Cocoa Puffs before. Cocoa Puffs offer cereal aficionados great texture and a deep chocolate flavor. The best part? A healthy amount of the puffs' chocolatey coat soaks off when moistened in milk to create a serving of delicious chocolate milk.
Golden Grahams
Golden Grahams are low-key, a very hearty cereal. Pretty delicious right out of the box, they have a toasty, pleasing texture. And while they are particularly sweet, they manage not to be unhealthily sugary. Suppose you appreciated the crumbly memories of munching on those grainy, sweet graham crackers as a kid. In that case, this is the cereal for you.
Reese's Puffs
The chocolate flavor in Reese's Puffs clearly takes a backseat to the dominant peanut butter flavor. Still, both shine through enough to overwhelm the somewhat disagreeable oily texture. That texture itself makes the cereal milk slightly revolting.
Chocolate Frosted Flakes
The best thing that's ever happened to Frosted Flakes, the chocolate version is surprisingly good. They taste virtually like chocolate-covered Corn Flakes but, unlike the regular version, aren't as sugary. These give just the right amount of chocolate to the milk, creating prime cereal milk.
French Toast Crunch
If this were a cuteness competition, French Toast Crunch would undoubtedly win the most adorable-looking cereal award. Each piece looks like a tiny piece of sliced French bread. The taste is pretty good — intense maple syrup-flavored gives you pleasingly sweet milk.
Cocoa Krispies
Cocoa Krispies is the underachiever of this collection. Although they're pretty good, any cereal aficionado will tell you they could be better. The original, pleasing snappy, crackling texture is there, but the chocolate part doesn't quite conform with the surface. We found most other chocolate cereals to be more cocoa-forward.
Cracklin' Oat Bran
Cracklin' Oat Bran pieces are thick, very sweet and oaty, and appear to be immune to milk's moistening effects. After minutes of sitting in the bowl, these chunks remain virtually unaltered. Cracklin' Oat Bran is one of the few kinds of cereal that's actually better when eaten straight out of the box as a snack.
Golden Crisp
Unlike most cereals in this collection, Golden Crisp cereal has an astounding amount of sugar (per serving: 16 grams), more than any other cereal we've tried. The puffed wheat chunks are very sweet, as you can imagine; however, the flavor doesn't leak out into the milk entirely. In fact, just the right amount of sweetness is blended with the milk, creating one of the better cereal milk on this list.
Apple Jacks
If you're a fan of fruity-flavored cereals, you've probably enjoyed Apple Jacks growing up. Apple Jacks is unquestionably the best of a bad situation. Its flavors don't really pop out as much as they should. Instead of stuffing your mouth with great convincing fruit essences, it provides you merely with mild apples and cinnamon flavors.
Corn Pops
Do you remember the yellow chunks of sweetness? These mildly sweetened corn pieces are good enough to appeal to just about anyone but not good enough to be anyone's preferred choice - if they had one. It’s an average cereal, but that’s okay.
Froot Loops
Fruity cereals usually lead to intense artificial flavors and smell. Froot Loops is the perfect example of a too-sweet cereal. While this much sweetness can be overlooked for things like Laffy Taffy and Jolly Ranchers, but a bowl of cereal? Not so much.
Takeaway
As a kid in the cereal aisle, you considered your options carefully, pondering the pros and cons of each. Do you grab the sweet Fruity Pebbles or opt for the subtle Honey Nut Cheerios? Whatever your choice was, we know it was a good one. But you are all grown up now, so cereal choices may also revolve around exotic cereal flavors and novelty cereal boxes. Well, you are in the right place! At SoFlo, we offer an impressive collection of the most sought-after rarities from the top cereal brands in the world. Browse our unique collection to find rare breakfast cereals that you won't find at your local supermarket.