This review is a little more exotic than the others on this blog, because this one is focused on a cereal, Flips, that was personally imported to me from a good friend who brought it back from her business travels to Colombia. And let’s address the question I’m sure you are all wondering: is any of its ingredients cocaine or coffee? The answer: no.

Flips chocolate cereal is an expanded cereal made with rice, wheat and oat, filled with artificially flavored chocolate cream. The origin of the cereal began in 1992 when Alfonzo Rivas y Cia, a company founded in 1910, first introduced it in Venezuela. It became a fan favorite and before the end of the decade, it had become Venezuela’s favorite cereal. In the early 2000s, it was introduced in Colombia and Panama and in 2010 this cereal made its debut in the United States. The Flips name was later rebranded to be called Toops in 2017 in the U.S. and other markets outside of South America. Now that we’ve got that history lesson taken care of, let’s dive into this cereal.

Aesthetics

Packaging looks like I’m buying gummy candy or a pack of legos. The cereal itself is a standard design that looks like little brown pillows for a G.I. Joe action figure barrack.

For those who may be familiar with Kellog’s Krave cereal, this one is basically a South American version of that. Or, you could say the premise of the cereal is similar to Fillows cereal, which you can read my review on that here.

Snackability

While not terrible in milk, this is one of those cereals where I’d prefer to just snack on it at my desk. It has a satisfying crunch, sweetness and a nice pop of flavor with the chocolate filling. I suppose you could liken it to a breakfast cereal version of M&Ms with its harder shell and candy goodness in the middle.

Structural Integrity

This is where Flips has both good and bad traits, in my opinion. The crunchy shell helps extend the time it can stay crunchy in milk, however, once that shell has been saturated, the once rough texture of the shell turns somewhat slimy feeling to the taste. It sounds worse than it is, but it’s still noticeable. So, if you are eating this cereal or one similar, I’d recommend not letting it sit in milk beyond 8 minutes or so.

Cereal Concept

As mentioned earlier in the review, this cereal isn’t anything new. A multi-grain shell filled with some sweet filling is a staple among cereals, similar to that of ones shaped as circles or rings or varieties that have oats and marshmallows, whether magical or not. However, you know the old saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and this concept certainly fits that.

Flavor

The cereal came in a small, travel-sized pouch, similar to the size of bags I buy my gummy worms, and Sour Patch Kids in, so I wasn’t able to get that initial smell of opening a pouch in a normal box of cereal. However, what I did find once I poured the cereal into my bowl and ate a few pieces dry and then the rest with milk is that Flips has a good, sweet satisfying flavor. I typically am not a fan of cereals that involve chocolate flavor, since it often times tastes too manufactured for me, but this cereal doesn’t seem to bother me as much. I will say though that it’s still sweet enough that I wouldn’t be able to eat a second helping.

Final Thoughts

Despite the ingredients not including coffee beans or cocaine, I’m not mad at Flips cereal. The origin of the cereal is more exotic since it isn’t a U.S. variety, but the cereal itself is similar to many others in your local cereal aisle. I could basically guarantee if you did a blind taste test of Flips and Krave, you wouldn’t be able to tell which is which. So overall, yes, Flips is basically South America’s version of the United States’ Krave cereal, or vice versa, which isn’t a bad thing. So, if you’re interested in Flips, or Toops as it’s rebranded for the U.S. and are unable to find it, just buy a box of Krave and report back.