By Emily Guzman and Josh Parker

'We Try It' is a regular series where we try the latest off-beat food and beverage offerings.

With the Mid-Autumn Festival rapidly approaching, mooncakes are now everywhere. The traditional Chinese bakery products range from sweet to savory fillings depending on the region and are immensely popular across the country, given as gifts to symbolise unity. 

While red bean, lotus and salted egg yolk remain calorific stalwart favorites, Oreo is cashing in on that sweet, sweet Mid-Autumn Festival renminbi with an unconventional alternative: the Oreo Mooncake.

The American cookie manufacturer joins a list of global brands tapping into the mooncake market that currently includes Starbucks and Häagen-Dazs, as well as a less successful attempt by McDonald’s. 

Each RMB92 box contains four flavors: cocoa milk, alarmingly yellow creamy pineapple, strawberry and of course the famous pitch black chocolate. 

At That’s Shanghai HQ, we got our hands on a box and decided to see how they fared as glorified beefeaters. 

Cocoa Cream Flavor

Tastes like: "Almost completely absent of flavor, and oddly reminiscent of Play-Doh. Also very stodgy."

Rating (out of ten): 2/10 (Josh), 1/10 (Emily)

Comments: "Bland and tasteless. Very uninspiring." "I feel empty??"

Creamy Pineapple Flavor

Tastes like: "Slightly zesty piña colada."

Rating (out of ten): 4/10 (Josh), 6/10 (Emily)

Comments: "Somewhat fruity, but again, nothing to write home about." "I'd eat this while getting caught in the rain."

Strawberry Flavor

Tastes like: "Strawberry jam! A decidedly less healthy Fig Newton."

Rating (out of ten): 6/10 (Josh), 3/10 (Emily)

Comments: "Definitely the best of the lot so far. Quite flavorsome." "'I want an Oreo product that tastes healthy!' Said nobody ever."

Original Oreo Flavor

Tastes like: "The opposite of what Oreos are known to taste like."

Rating (out of ten): 1/10 (Josh), 1/10 (Emily)

Comments: "The flavor you’d expect Oreo to excel in falls flat on its face; most disappointing." "I've eaten year-old Oreos that have more flavor than this."

Though the dense little orbs have different colors and names, we can confirm that for the most part they taste of sadness and disappointment. Alas, the marriage of Oreo and mooncake – both icons in their respective cultures – is an ill-fated one. Back to the drawing board on this one, Oreo. 

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