Some people prefer the simpler beauties in life and are perfectly content with their cup of coffee and bowl of Original Cheerios. Others prefer the finer things in life. They spend their mornings slowly sipping a specially brewed Starbucks latte and indulging in a more complex cereal first thing in the morning. If you fall into the latter category, Honey Bunches of Oats is your cereal. Unmatched in terms of texture, flavor, and appearance, this Post classic is right up your alley. 

The origin of HBO is unique and very well known. The story goes that one day a Post employee named Vernon J. Herzing wanted something unique and different for breakfast, so he combined a few different Post cereals into one bowl. He teamed up with his daughter to “perfect” the mixture of cereals, and the result was what is now Honey Bunches of Oats.  

Honey Bunches of Oats has a seemingly endless list of varieties (Frosted, with Almonds, Apple Caramel Crunch, with Real Strawberries, Honey Roasted, with Vanilla Bunches, with Cinnamon Bunches, Whole Grain Almond Crunch, and Pecan and Maple Brown Sugar) that can cater to whatever mood you’re in that morning. 

If your cereal of choice is granola, Honey Bunches of Oats even has an entire lineup of granolas. Bags of Toffee Almond, French Vanilla Almond, Maple Pecan, and Honey Roasted Granolas are available as well.  

Every Honey Bunches of Oats box is warm and inviting. Emblazoned on the upper half of the front is the HBO logo, and surrounding it is an advertisement of the flavor of your choice, a matching color scheme, and a spoon showcasing a spoonful of the cereal. 

A quick glance at the nutrition label will show that for every cup of cereal, you’re consuming 160 calories and 9 grams of sugar. The ingredients list is also shockingly nutritious. The first listed ingredients, in order, are corn, whole grain wheat, sugar, whole grain rolled oats, rice, canola oil, wheat flour, and more. It’s very rare to find a cereal without sugar listed as the second ingredient, and even more rare to find a cereal that lists five healthy ingredients within the first seven.  

In addition to these healthy ingredients and decently healthy nutrition information, HBO is low in fat, heart healthy, and has 10 vitamins and minerals per serving. This is truly one unique cereal.  

And boy oh boy, does eating this prove its uniqueness. Just looking at this cereal after pouring it, it looks like Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes but with little clumps of clustered oats mixed in, like the clusters in Raisin Bran Crunch. It’s all one golden color and is very pleasing to the eye. 

The flavor matches the scent perfectly, but it may not be what you expect. The name “Honey Roasted Honey Bunches of Oats” gives the impression of a very sweet, sticky cereal, so you may be surprised to find that this cereal isn’t very sweet at all! While there is a subtle hint of honey sweetness in the oat cluster pieces throughout, the cereal overall isn’t super sweet. It isn’t bland, per say, but it is mild with the perfect amount of sugar to satisfy your sweet tooth without going overboard. 

It has an indescribable “roasted” flavor, and the texture is so complex and different that it’s no wonder adding oat clusters to cereal is becoming all the rage. While I haven’t tried the other varieties of HBO, this makes me want to. What a unique, delicious, and satisfying start to the morning. Honey Roasted Honey Bunches of Oats is a win, and you need to try it for yourself to get the full experience.