Welcome, fellow cookie monsters, to another round of Nabisco shenanigans that will leave you yet again wondering what Mystery Oreos taste like, and whether or not your tastebuds are to be trusted. If you happen to be sleuthing in the cookie aisle, you'll likely have already seen the white box of this round of Mystery Oreos, which officially hit shelves nationwide on Sept. 16. Assuming you already snagged a box or are on your way to grab one, you should know that time is of the element — if you manage to correctly guess the flavor before Nov. 10, you might win a whopping $50,000.
Here are the basic rules for how you can play: first, obviously, bite into a Mystery Oreo. Then head to the Mystery Oreo website, where you can submit a new flavor to guess every single day. In return, the website will start dishing out clues — three of them in total, in fact, over the course of the contest. Every correct guess you make will be an official entry to the contest, at which point the grand prize winner will be randomly chosen from the pack. You can also increase your chances by posting about it on social media (and also by eating as many Oreos as possible, for the sake of, uh, research).
This is all well and good if this isn't your first Mystery Oreo rodeo, but still begs the question — what exactly does this round taste like? We had the opportunity to sample the flavor at Bustle, and I already have some thoughts. The first is that the cookie itself does not taste the way it looks — the outer cookie looks like chocolate, but it certainly doesn't taste it. The second is that this is decidedly not a fruit-based flavor — I don't know why I was expecting it to be, but my initial thought upon taking a bite was that I tasted cinnamon, or graham cracker, or something reminiscent of our beloved cookie butter. Could it be that cookie butter Oreos are being resurrected, but this time in chocolate form? Or is this some other cinnamon combo that we haven't thought up yet?
I personally went ahead and guessed "Cinnamon S'more," but I'm but one mere taste-tester — and it could be a whole lot wilder than that. "Ready your mind and prepare your taste buds because the Mystery Oreo could be anything, from a combination of two current Oreo flavors to an entirely new flavor," the company stated in a press release. While I can't guarantee I'm on the right path re: the flavor, I can guarantee that it's delicious. I went into this with a bit of caution, having been burned by the Fruity Pebbles-flavored Mystery Oreo in 2017 (I wish I'd been down to clown, but I simply was not), and came out of it extremely ready to buy some more boxes of mysterious Oreos. Just make sure that you get your hands on a box sooner rather than later — contest entries end on Nov. 10.
