This Trix cereal isn’t your grandfather’s Trix. Because we live in a world where good enough can’t be left alone, and the pursuit of bigger and better is constant, we’ve gone from mini cereal to now LOADED cereal, with this offering from General Mills, Trix LOADED.

Trix is one of three cereal varieties that has received the LOADED treatment, in addition to classics, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cocoa Puffs. Each is basically the same size and shape but flavored as usual. The kicker is that LOADED cereal means you get vanilla creme filling in each bite. So does having a little shot of creme in the mouth with your breakfast cereal make a difference enhance the experience?

Aesthetics

As evident from the cereal box, you can already tell that Trix LOADED looks nothing like the traditional Trix cereal we’ve grown up with. They’ve taken it to the extreme.

Instead of fruity shapes, we get large rectangles that look like leftover accent/throw pillows from the Hannah Montana craze. The large blue, red and what I can only describe as blurple-colored squares look like rocks that belong in an aquarium instead of covered in milk in a cereal bowl.

Each piece has a sheen and texture that looks rough, like Cap’n Crunch. Needless to say, each spoonful of Trix LOADED is a mouthful and then some.

Snackability

Trix LOADED is actually pretty decent to eat dry, if you enjoy berry-flavored cereal. I liken it to eating Crunchberries from Cap’n Crunch, minus the hardness. The only trouble you may have with eating this cereal dry is the size of the large pieces, that mimic the size of frosted shredded wheat. For that reason, may smaller children shouldn’t eat this cereal as a  dry snack.

Structural Integrity

I think it’s been 4 years since I’ve awarded only 1 spoon in a category, but unfortunately, this is where I find Trix LOADED to be at its weakest. The large, light crisp flavored, almost airy pieces taste good, but after 5 minutes in milk, they soon become more mushy and overtaken by milk absorption.

Cereal Concept

General Mills has a history of creme-filled cereals (see Fillows), and there’s a reason why none really had staying power.

Trix LOADED sounds like something from an extreme era of the early 2000s. After doing Trix minis they overcompensate with this. Frankly, it’s more just using the Trix brand rather than doing something extremely different. Call me old fashioned, but I like it when the classics stay true to themselves, but I understand the business side of things of trying to evolve.

Flavor

Opening the bag, I didn’t note a strong scent of berry-flavored cereal. It wasn’t until biting into a piece that it reminded me of that Crunchberry flavor, sans the sandpaper texture of a Crunchberry. After eating the cereal both dry and in milk, it’s certainly sweet, as you might expect. I ate two bowls of it and my mouth still has that aftertaste.

But let’s talk about the elephant in the room that makes Trix LOADED loaded. The vanilla creme filling in each piece works well with the cereal, making it even sweeter than usual. It seemed to work better when activated with milk, in my opinion. Either way, the creme flavor wasn’t dramatic or overpowering like you’d imagine based on the depiction on the box. Each piece has very little of it, actually.   Final Thoughts Trix LOADED isn’t inventing the wheel when it comes to offering cereal with a vanilla creme filling. And for me, it was barely Trix as I knew it. It could have been any other berry-flavored cereal due to its unrecognizable shape and color. So while it doesn’t hit the nail on the head in breaking new ground, it does accomplish giving consumers a berry sweet treat with each spoonful. Does this make me want to try other LOADED varieties? Probably not, unless someone can for certain tell me that Cinnamon Toast Crunch LOADED tastes like a frosted cinnamon roll. If so, then we can talk. For now, leave well enough alone when it comes to the classic cereals. If we want to go wild and bold, then give me the whacky flavors, or create cereals that we’d never think should have ever been made into cereals.