Sometimes when arranging a taste test things just don’t go the way they should.

The cereal taste test that Consumer Reports magazine conducted also pitted General Mills’ Cheerios against Malt-O-Meal, a smaller private label brand. Malt-O-Meal manufactures versions of several popular cereals.

For our taste test, it was easy to find the Cheerios at a local grocery store. And the Malt-O-Meal version called Scooters also was easy to locate — except for the plain kind. The store was out.

And it was time to improvise and have a little fun. The store did have Honey Nut Scooters and I decided to see if our taste testers would notice any difference between the two cereals.

When it came to appearance, the Honey Nut Scooters scored only a little higher than the Cheerios. Most people found both cereals appealing.

However, when they actually put the spoon in the milk and tasted both cereals, most noticed a little difference. The Cheerios earned comments such as “dull” and “bland.” One taster said the Cheerios tasted “like a corn cereal with no sweetness.” The generic brand earned kudos for its sweetness, and one taster actually noted that generic brand had a nuttiness and honey taste.

One surprise was that some testers said that the Malt-O-Meal Honey Nut Scooters taste “good — like I expect Cheerios to taste.” General Mills, are you listening?

All the tasters liked the crunchy sweetness or mild sweetness of the generic brand. The regular Cheerios, on the other hand, couldn’t really compare to all that sugary goodness. Cheerios received comments such as “it’s probably good for someone who wanted plain, rather than honey-nut flavor” and “great, if you don’t want sugar.”

Of course, the sweetness also influenced the dislike of the Cheerios. It had none, and the testers noted that. And, the fact that Cheerios went soggy quicker than the generic brand didn’t help.

Only one person said she wouldn’t buy the generic brand, while three tasters said they wouldn’t buy the Cheerios. The Cheerios did earn a “maybe” and a “yes” on that question, as well.

The bottom line: Cereal lovers seem to be creatures of habit. They want sweet and not soggy poured into their breakfast bowls.

Lifestyles reporter Cathy Woolridge can be reached at cathyw@npgco.com