Holy Bunches of Oats! Part One!

10/11/10 UPDATE: SEE THE RESULTS HERE!

Remember how I said that I often base cereal-buying decisions on sales and sale prices? (Who among us, by the way, could claim to be immune to such forces? With so much choice in the cereal aisle, it helps to pass off some of that stifling autonomy to the powers that be.) Well, I got quite carried away last night when I bought FIVE boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats. They're all different varieties, at least: Cinnamon Bunches (I'm snacking on them right now ... not bad), Almonds, Pecan Bunches, Peaches, and, the real coup de grâce, a LIMITED EDITION box of Apples and Cinnamon Bunches. Here's why: Buy 4 Get 2 Free. That explains the first four. As for the fifth ... well, I'm not sayin' I'm a cereal collector, but I just had to snatch up that LIMITED EDITION box, too -- it was on sale for something like $3.50, and came in a bigger size than the others. Solid.

In case you aren't "in the know," Honey Bunches of Oats is, in all its forms, a highly respectable cereal. I thought my wife, who likes cereal only slightly more than she likes broccoli, and considerably more than she likes Brussels sprouts, which is to say not much, celebrated the entire Honey Bunches of Oats catalog. It's that kind of cereal -- even if you're not an addict, you can appreciate this stuff. No reflection on Honey Bunches of Oats' inestimable quality, but it turns out she only likes the one with Peaches. Her bad. So she can have that box. (Also worth noting: Honey Bunches of Oats is really fun to say. Go ahead. Give it a try.)

Being in possession of five varieties of this fine cereal, including a SPECIAL EDITION, poses a fine opportunity for taste testing. Is the SPECIAL EDITION Apples and Cinnamon Bunches cereal really so SPECIAL, or is it just an EDITION? Is the Peaches variety, treated to fake little peach-flavored pieces throughout, really the best? (Spoiler alert: No.) What's tastier? Pecan Bunches or Cinnamon Bunches? And, finally, how does the OG H.B.o.O variety "With Almonds" hold up against its newfangled offspring?

Only time, a few spoons, the Wednesday paper, and many cups of 2% milk will tell. Once I've fearlessly tested all five flavors, I'll post my results here at Cereal Hour forthwith! Should take a week or so. Don't miss it! Because if you do, you'll, like, not know what I had to say about them. And that -- that'd be totally tragic.