I dislike hot weather. Summer always leaves me feeling like a sticky, sweaty mess, even in a place like Edmonton, which isn’t anywhere near as hot and humid as cities in Eastern Canada.
September through November are my favourite months, as they signal the end of summer and the beginning of fall, which, to my mind, is the best season of them all. I live for the cooler temperatures and the return to cosy nesting, when indoor temperatures also drop and it’s easier to simmer a chili on the stove or bake loaves of bread without worrying it’ll add to the heat in an already sweltering house.
By mid-September, we move from a season of external warmth to one of internal warmth, where the air outside has a chill that we counteract by warming ourselves with the things we wear, do and eat. Unlike the Americans, who wait for November to celebrate Thanksgiving, we get an early start to it in Canada, feasting on the harvest’s bounty in mid-October.
And while there’s plenty of debate over side dishes, odds are good that a Canadian Thanksgiving table includes a pumpkin pie.
Pumpkin spice, before it was basic
Before I get to the Pumpkin Spice Mini-Wheats, a bit of context is in order.
Pumpkin pie is, at its core, less about the pumpkin and more about the intoxicating spices that make a whole home smell warm and inviting.
If you were alive and drinking coffee in the 90s, you’ll remember how quirky, non-snooty coffee shops would have a cinnamon shaker on their condiment bar, which some customers would use to dust the tops of their tiny cappuccinos in a fit of pseudo-European flair. How this turned into a full-on combination of all the pumpkin pie spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice) mixed into the drink itself is unclear, but it’s generally accepted that Starbucks took it mainstream with their pumpkin spice latte in 2003-04.
From there, the pumpkin spice flavour spread society-wide like a deliciously fragrant pandemic, leading to some very questionable products getting the pumpkin-spice treatment.
I’ve tried pumpkin spice beers that were OK, and others that should never have left the mash tun. Last year, I had the misfortune of trying a pumpkin spice latte made with actual pumpkin puree scooped from a can – it was grainy and chunky and all sorts of things I never want in a drink.
Whether pumpkin spice works with a product relies on the taste of the base product and how the spice is incorporated into it. Every pumpkin-spice product purchase is a risk, and your degree of love for the spice will determine how much you’re willing to gamble.
In this case, a box of Pumpkin Spice Mini-Wheats for five bucks is a bet I’m willing to make. I already love Mini-Wheats, and their signature sweetness combined with the milk in the bowl should (should?) result in something in line with a pumpkin spice latte. So, let’s find out if I’m right, shall we? Five whole Canadian dollars are at stake here. If they’re gross, I can and will pitch the rest of the box in the compost bin.
What do Pumpkin Spice Mini-Wheats taste like?
The smell from the box isn’t clearly identifiable as any one spice, but instead has the characteristic scent you’d get from taking a good sniff of a PSL. The frosting on these is notably orange even before you add the milk, but it takes on a deep, Garfield-like orange-cheddar hue once the dairy has been added. The ingredients panel lists annatto, which is responsible for giving orange cheddar cheese its distinctive look, so that’s where that comes from. It also turns the milk a yellowy orange colour that I’ve never seen with a latte.
Taste-wise, the PUMPKIN SPICE is intense enough to merit ALL CAPS. The flavour is front and centre, with lots of sweetness that dissolves into the milk the longer it sits, working its way into the slowly softening biscuits. As with the aroma, no one spice dominates, but the cinnamon is the easiest for me to pick out. The toasted wheat is perfectly suited to the rest of the flavours, and the scratchy, chewy texture is exactly what you’d expect with any other Mini-Wheats cereal.
Honestly, it’s pretty good. It’s too intense to be a daily cereal for more than a few days or to fill a large bowl, but that doesn’t mean I dislike it. If you want to shake up your breakfast routine this fall, you could do worse.
The Details
Price: $4.99 (on sale) for a 460-gram box at Safeway in Edmonton, Canada.
Value for Money: Perfectly fine.
Availability: Limited. These will come, then go. As is the way with pumpkin spice things.
Nutrition: 200 calories per 25 biscuits (55 grams), not including milk.
Vegan?: Sorry, pals. There’s gelatin listed in the ingredients panel.
Verdict: Not bad. A little bit goes a long way, and it’s best as a limited-edition treat instead of a full-time entry in the Mini-Wheats line.
