review: instant Cream of Wheat -- maple & brown sugar

A few months back my sister came home with a variety pack of instant Cream of Wheat and announced: "That maple and brown sugar is nasty." My sister rarely has strong negative opinions--especially about food--so my curiosity was piqued. Although not that much, I guess, since I'm just now getting around to trying it.

Just getting a whiff from the open packet made me see where my sister was coming from. The maple has a very sharp scent--that's really the best way to describe it. It's like maple tinged with...brown sugar? Or better yet, singed with brown sugar. It smelled burnt...and off.

Since I wasn't sure if I would like it I decided to play it safe and cut the taste down with a packet of original flavor. Probably a good call. It didn't taste terrible to me but it's not what you would expect from something labeled "maple and brown sugar." If I try it by itself next time that might affect my opinion. Now I'm glad I didn't have to buy the whole box to find that out.