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Millville Cocoa Rice Cereal (Aldi)

I think I mention this every time I review a cereal from Aldi under the “Millville” moniker, but Millville cereals really are where taste and budget merge together.  Very few of the cereals miss the mark versus the name brands, and even in instances where they might not taste as good, their substantial savings really help to even things out, closing the gap between national brand quality versus price.

Millville’s Cocoa Rice is no exception.  As you would expect, these are small, fluffy, chocolate-covered rice bits.  Visually, they look pretty much exact when compared to the national brand, but seeing as how you didn’t buy this stuff just to sit and look at it, I’ll go a little farther.  The smell reeks of straight-up cocoa, which is definitely a little more reassuring.

Taste-wise is where I could easily see this cereal dividing consumers.  For me, the cocoa flavor is spot-on, easily making this one of my favorite of Millville’s plentiful cereal offerings.  Now, when I say it’s “spot-on”, I don’t necessarily mean in comparison to the national brand, which I haven’t had in so long I don’t think I could make an accurate comparison, but it’s just a perfectly light and sweet cocoa flavor that doesn’t try to be too overwhelming.  Which is potentially where the problem lies:  This probably isn’t a cereal for serious chocoholics.  Even the milk at the end, which is one of my favorite parts of eating this kind of cereal, is usually a light brown color, rather than the darker shades I seem to remember downing as a kid.

So if you are looking to have your taste buds decimated with chocolate flavor, then this probably isn’t the cereal for you.  But if you don’t mind a more subdued cocoa, one that is still obvious but not too bold, Millville’s Cocoa Rice is something that will more than likely be down your alley.

Overall: 8/10.  Though serious chocolate lovers might be a little disappointed, I find Millville’s Cocoa Rice to be an addictive cereal, one that offers a generous helping of cocoa flavor, without being too overbearing.  The cereal is also surprisingly milk-resistant, in that it somehow manages to stay crispy for a while even after being drowned in milk.  Overall, one of my favorite Millville knockoffs, and at under $2 a box, it also doubles as an excellent value.

This Post Has 5 Comments

  1. Mike

    Oh, wow.. this is one of those times I disagree with your ratings. First the Cocoa rice, which to me didn't even have a bit of a chocolate taste to them. Granted it's been awhile since I last had it, like you said the recipe may have changed, but at the time I compared it to eating semi sweet baking chips instead of a Hershey chocolate bar. As for the cinnamon toast crunch, I've never tried the Milville brand personally but my 9 y/o loves the stuff. Actually, she prefers it to the name brand, the only thing she's complained of is the size of the box being too small hahaha (which if I'm not mistaken it was only .5 oz less than the name brand, but at a much cheaper price)..

    If you really want to taste a bad cereal, try the Milville brand of Lucky Charms. Ridiculously disgusting, and they sell it at the same price or maybe a half a buck cheaper than the name brand. The marshmallows were chalky and the oats tasted like cardboard, it was no wonder the box claimed to be a good source of fiber!

    By the way, how did you like the Aldi version of Dorito's? Were they anything like I described? I had a bag of the Nacho cheese the other day that were stale, then I read the date stamped on the bag and it said September 12.. 2013 – LOL That taught me to always check the expiration dates before I check out, on the plus side Aldi has a excellent customer satisfaction guarantee so I exchanged it for a fresh bag no questions asked.

  2. atom

    I LOVE the Cocoa Rice! I think the recipe might have changed, because even my choco-holic wife thought it was pretty chocolatey! Has your daughter had the Cinnamon Toast Crunch recently? Because like I said, it used to be one of my favorites, but now the crunch squares all taste burnt. Oh well. To each their own, I guess.

    I've never been a fan of Lucky Charms, so I've never tried Aldi's, but my wife has, and she concurs with you…she tried them once and will never get them again. So that's enough to make me never even want to try it once!

    I don't know where you live, but if you have a Big Lots nearby and you don't already go there, they have some excellent cereal deals. I've been getting huge bags of Malt-O-Meal brand cereals, both the Cocoa Pebbles and Cinnamon Toast Crunch knockoffs, from there lately. A 2.5 POUND bag of CTC was $3! I think it was a bonus bag, but even then, the bags are always at least 1.5 pounds and always between $2 or $3. And I think MOM is the best knockoff cereal brand out there.

  3. Mike

    Yes, she has had it recently, it's one of our staple items when we make our weekly Aldi run. Maybe she just has an acquired taste for them, personally I'd prefer real cinnamon French toast to the cereal any day LOL

    I can't say I've seen them at Big Lots but I've bought big bags of MOM cereal at my local grocery store in the past, I also think Walmart sells them, and Dollar Tree I believe used to albeit probably much smaller bags. I've noticed my local Big Lots has been carrying more food (even started carrying fresh and frozen) so I'll be sure to check the next time I stop in. I can't guarantee my daughter will try another brand, but I'll see if she's interested in doing a comparison of MOM and Milville brands some day.

  4. Unknown

    First time trying Cocoa Rice cereal. I think Its great.

  5. atom

    Why, I would agree with you, Unknown! In fact, I might even say it's one of my favorite, go-to cereals, even to this day. Good stuff.

    Glad you like it, too!

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