by Lily Biagi

Cereal Milk Lattes are all the rage right now, and I had to see if this trend would really transport me back to breakfast time as a child, when I would slurp the sugary milk from the bottom of my cereal bowl. So I went to two local Syracuse coffee shops to try three different cereal milk infused lattes. Here’s how they were…

Lucky Charms Cereal Milk Latte (made with oat milk from Salt City Coffee)

Wow, this drink was magically delicious! I got my latte hot, but they also offered it iced. The barista asked me if I wanted some cereal as a garnish, and of course I said yes.

While I was expecting this drink to be sickeningly sweet, when I took my first sip of the foamy latte, I was pleasantly surprised. The bitter espresso balanced out the sugary milk. Oat milk was a good choice for this breakfast-inspired latte because its texture is most similar to cows milk. 

They infused the oat milk with Lucky Charms cereal prior to crafting this beautiful drink. I got a subtly sweet Lucky Charms marshmallow flavor from the milk, but it was not overpowering. It was everything I wanted from a latte: smooth, creamy and well-balanced.

Cap’n Crunch Cereal Milk Draft Latte (made with oat milk from Peaks Coffee)

I had high hopes for this one because I love oat milk draft lattes (extra smooth and creamy!). But unfortunately, this latte let me down. It was hardly sweet and didn’t taste at all like Captain Crunch. 

When I think of cereal milk, I think of the sugary, slightly colored liquid remaining at the bottom of my cereal bowl. This latte tasted like it was made with plain oat milk, not cereal milk. I did get a slight wheat aftertaste, but sadly no strong Captain Crunch flavor. 

While it was a good cup of iced coffee, it didn’t live up to the name “Cap’n Crunch Cereal Milk Latte.” In the future, I would suggest steeping the Captain Crunch in the oat milk for longer before mixing it with espresso and putting it on tap. Also, there are better, more flavorful cereals than Captain Crunch… I’m just saying.

Fruity Pebbles Cereal Milk Latte (made with oat milk from Salt City Coffee)

Salt City Coffee brought back their first ever cereal milk latte for the month of April. While I didn’t try their Fruity Pebbles latte when it debuted last year, I now understand why it’s a fan favorite. It had much more flavor than the other two cereal milk lattes I sampled. This one was also the sweetest but still remained fairly balanced. 

I loved that when I took a sip, I first tasted the coffee flavor but the finish tasted like the wonderful fruity flavors of Fruity Pebbles! The oat milk seemed thicker in this latte than the Lucky Charms latte (maybe the cereal was steeped for longer? Or is there more sugar in Fruity Pebbles?) Here is a picture of the Fruity Pebbles infused oat milk that Salt City uses in their lattes. Now this is what I remember cereal milk looking like! Compared to the regular cows milk, it was a pretty pink hue.

The bottom of the latte was the best part, just like the leftover milk in a cereal bowl. While it was the sweetest part, it was bursting with a flavor that reminded me of childhood. I’d call this latte the perfect adult breakfast treat!