by | March 28, 2012

Review: Aero Green Tea

Review: Aero Green Tea
Cost: US$6.99
Best Before: September 2011
Review: March 2012

http://nestle.jp/brand/aero/

I was going through my last few reviews and I noticed that in my Air-In Kit Kat reviews, I talked a lot about “Aero” bars and how the bubbliness of the Air-Ins was clearly a stab at trying to replicate the popularity of Aero (or, Mirage, its inferior U.S. cousin). Seeing as Aero bars were my favourite as a kid, I took particular offense at the weak attempts of the Air-In Kit Kats to duplicate the bubbly texture.

It didn’t occur to me at the time, but Japan has Aero bars now–both standard, milk chocolate Aero, and special localised flavours like Green Tea. I’d actually tried Green Tea Aeros thanks to my good friend Deb Aoki, and sure enough today when I looked in the back of the fridge I still had most of a bag back there! (Seriously my fridge is so full of Japanese candy you would not believe.) Despite it being a few months past the best before, I figured I’d review them for you here, just so we had a baseline for solid, bubbles-in chocolate bars here at the site :).

Packaging: At first when Deb gifted me this package I was a little underwhelmed–we’ve had Mint Aero Bars in Canada forever, though I guess it was cool to get the Japanese edition. Of course, when she told me they were green tea!? That was quite a bit more exciting. It would have been nice if the green tea aspect of the flavour could have been more clearly outlined on the package–there is a mug of green tea, but it basically disappears into the green and white bubbles.

An argument could be made that if you are buying a chocolate product in Japan in a green wrapper, there is a 95% chance it’s green tea, also, it probably says “green tea” somewhere in Japanese.

It’s fun and cheerful, but not terribly effective for me.

Scent: Quite impressive! The out-of-the-wrapper scent is very full, with a nice mild green tea and milk chocolate scent. Very appetizing.

Taste & Texture: Now THAT’s an Aero bar. The texture is a perfect replica of the original Aero texture, the bubbles are voluminous, and they even ‘pop’ a little as the bar melts on your tongue.

The flavour’s excellent too, not quite as nice as some of the green tea Kit Kats for some reason (they’re made by the same manufacturer), but far, far better than the terrible Green Tea flavour of the Air-In Kit Kats. This has a pleasant, mild green tea taste, and the milk chocolate is definitely present and enjoyable. This is a flavourful, well constructed little bite of candy!

Verdict: What a great candy bar! It does everything an Aero bar is supposed to do, and it tastes great too. It proves that Nestle could have made the Air-In Kit Kats a hell of a lot better than they were. Love it, and you’ll love it too.

1 Comment

Filed under Reviews

Tagged as , , , ,

by | March 26, 2012

Review: LOOK A La Mode Chocolate

Review: Look A La Mode Chocolate
Price: CDN$1.99
Best Before: July 2012
Review: March 2012

http://fujiya-peko.co.jp/

I didn’t really dig on my last “Look” chocolate experience too much, designed as it was to capture the joy and sensation of a green-tea-with-red-bean-ice-cream-sundae sort of a thing, but when I saw the 4-flavours-in-one of A La Mode on the shelf, of course I had to pick it up. Banana, Almond, Strawberry, and Caramel all in one? It sounds ‘interesting’ at the very least, and has pretty amazing potential!

Packaging: I’ve never purchased this sort of Look Chocolate before–the packaging is closer to a contemporary gum wrapper. A box (resealable) that folds open and closed, containing a foil packet inside. This makes a lot of sense for gum, because gum is individually wrapped and that handy resealable package keeps things tidy in your pocket or purse, but since this product is just one big foil wrapper? Seems like a waste.

Things get even weirder inside, as opening the foil packet reveals a dozen individual chocolates on a cardboard tray! I think this is maybe the first time I’ve bought a chocolate bar and gotten a box of chocolates. Admittedly if I’d paid closer attention to the pictures on the back I might’ve gotten a heads-up, but yeah, 12 little chocolates, 3 of each flavour. My hopes are dashed a little–I was expecting all 4 flavours in one, but it’s not the end of the world… it does make the box make sense a little more (it’s portion controlled so you’ll eat it over a longer period), but it also still seems a little disfunctional, as the foil packet isn’t resealable and slipping everything back together and in the box seems pretty dangerous, if you don’t want the inside of your pocket coated in chcolate…

I will say that the packaging exterior, with its bright photographs of delicious looking ingredients, had me picking this up off the shelf immediately so that’s definitely a point in their favour.

Scent: Right after opening the foil, the scent of the chocolate filled the room. It was kind of remarkable how intense it was, and how mixed. It also had an alcoholic, run-balls sort of a thing going for it, maybe because of the complexity of all of the flavours? Very sweet too.

Bringing each individual chocolate up to my nose, the scent remained very big. Banana was probably the biggest and most easily discerned, with Almond being the weakest and strawberry and caramel in the middle somewhere. The overwhelming scent is of ‘sweetness’, rather than milk chocolate. I’m not getting much of a chocolate hit off of these chocolates at all.

Taste: I went with banana first as I like artificial banana (in the way that most people do not), and it tasted like it smelled, strong, artificial, and very sweet. It’s not a bad little bite, but the even eating it the chocolate taste is almost non-existent. I jumped to caramel next, and interestingly it had a different texture, more chewy (like caramel, obvs), though the right carmel flavour I was expecting isn’t there. It’s a little salty, a little burnt, and sweet, but caramel and chocolate are not very present here either.

Next, almond. I should point out at this point that all of these candies have creamy interiors, and while I was expecting an almond (either whole or perhaps ground) in this one, it was similarly smooth and creamy… and flavourless. Which isn’t to say that it didn’t taste like anything–it tasted like the rest of the chocolates–but there’s nothing at all here that I can identify as almond flavour.

Strawberry candy, on the other hand, is practically a food group in Japan, there’s so much of it! The strawberry chocolates don’t disappoint, with a strong hit of very sweet strawberry coming to the fore as soon as I bit in. If you like your strawberry candy so sweet it tangs, you’ll be happy with this flavour. Again, it’s not very chocolatey at all, but it tastes alright.

Verdict: Well it’s not terrible, but Look hasn’t done much to change my mind about their products. Really low-grade, plastic-textured chocolate with almost no flavour, and the fillings lack any sort of subtlety at all, ranging from very strong, sweet banana and strawberry on the one end to flavourless almond and caramel on the other. I think I’m just going to pass on Look chocolates in the future… except for the ones already in my pantry waiting to be reviewed. :(

Leave a Comment

Filed under Reviews

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

by | March 25, 2012

Best of the Web: How to drink in Japan at Tofogu.com

This weekend’s Best of the Web directs you to Japanese-culture-for-Westerners website Tofogu.com, and their article “How to Drink in Japan.”

I liked this article as much for what it did tell you as for what it didn’t. While last weekend’s “Kaiten Sushi” article was probably a touch more thorough in its posting, I actually think that’s a huge benefit when you’re ordering possibly strange, possibly unpleasant food that you’ve never ordered before, or in a way you’ve never eaten before. But drinking, well… this article is sort of an introduction and overview to drinking in Japan, and from my experience it doesn’t get anything ‘wrong’, but it also doesn’t really go into too many of the details of the drinking games, or the different social dynamics. This is a good thing! It tells you what to expect in a general way, and everything you need to do to be polite and a part of the group, but there’s a lot of space there for you to learn things on your own–by doing. Part of going out for a drink with friends in Japan is the social aspect, breaking down barriers, and getting to know the people and the culture. If you walk into a situation like that thinking you know everything (or even knowing everything!) it removes an opportunity for you to learn with your new friends, or to bond over that learning. It’s important!

You can’t 100% learn how to be social from a textbook, but I’m also a firm believer in being prepared. This article will let you walk into a social situation like a smart, prepared student; eager to learn… until you puke. ;)

– Chris

Leave a Comment

Filed under Best of the Web

Tagged as , , , ,

by | March 17, 2012

Best of the Web: DannyChoo.com on Kaiten Sushi

The most famous Japanese culture blogger in the world? His name is Danny Choo, and his DannyChoo.com (see also: CultureJapan.jp) is a vast repository of info on both the everyday and hyper-geeky side of Japanese culture. An admitted otaku, his interests tend to run towards cute girl images and action figures, expensive cameras, and food.

This recent post on Japanese “Conveyor Belt” sushi, or Kaiten Sushi, is a great primer on kaiten sushi restaurants. It even includes a video, and some wonderful photos as seen above. You can find the post at http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/26440/Conveyor+Belt+Sushi.html.

That whole site is a great repository of info and worth poking around, but can go straight from “0 to NSFW” in 1 click, so I’ll probably continue to link individual articles of note rather than the whole site. Enjoy!

– Christopher Butcher

Leave a Comment

Filed under Best of the Web

Tagged as , , , , ,

by | March 14, 2012

Review: Morinaga Hi-Chew Green Apple

Review: Morinaga Hi-Chew Green Apple
Best Before: May 2012
Review: March 2012

http://www.morinaga.co.jp/hi-chew/

My preference, when it comes to Japanese snacks, is towards either the salty or the outrageous, and consequently some of the most common-but-enjoyable everyday snacks tend to get missed. Much like, somehow, it took me six months to get around to reviewing a flavour of Pocky, it seems a little silly to me that I’ve somehow missed talking about Morinaga Hi-Chew. For the most part, bubblegum is not terribly prevalent or popular in Japan in my observation, but chewable soft candy packaged and sold in the manner of gum? Very much so, and the flavour range is pretty incredible! Generally the candy is flavoured with yogurt, giving the candy a milky, round, and tangy flavour, and then additional flavours are layered on top. So let’s see what Morniaga’s “new” Green Apple Hi-Chew has to offer!

Packaging: There’s almost no English on this package, other than the Morinaga logo, and the big NEW!!! on the front of the package. While the juicy illustration of a green apple is appetizing, this is the kind of snack you wouldn’t know to try unless you already knew about it, if you know what I mean. I do like the foil treatment though, it’s eye-catching.

Scent: A faint, sweet green apple scent is present once the outer package is opened, which is nice. I always expect things with this flavour to smell as harsh and intense as air freshener or cleaners, and this is kind of mellow.

Taste: While the appearance of the candy is of a green bit of chewy candy wrapped in the standard white chewy candy, the taste of green apple is apparent as soon as it hits the tongue! Chewing the Morinaga Hi-Chew is like the best, first 30 seconds of chewing a piece of gum before it loses all of its flavour. The candy is initially about as tough as taffy, but breaks down quickly and every single bite is intensely flavourful.

The flavour resists being overly sweet, somehow, and the green apple despite being quite intense never ventures into industrial cleaner territory, which is welcome. The tang of the yogurt is there as well, right up at the front and all the way through the 30 seconds or so of chewing. Afterwards, you’re left with a yogurty tang in the after-taste, but also a sort of tingly, near-menthol type effect on your tongue. It’s pretty neat.

I gotta say though that, 10 minutes after my first piece, there’s a little bit of a chemical sweetness aftertaste that’s not the nicest, but it’s also not the end of the world either. When you’re eating a piece of commercial candy made by a huge conglomerate, you kinda know what you’re getting into.

Verdict: There’s a reason that Morinaga Hi-Chew is a classic, and there’s a reason they’ve even started exporting the flavourful candy to America (with English packaging!). It’s pretty great stuff. The upside is that it’s got all of the flavour of gum! The downside is that you can go through a pack in 10 minutes if you’re not paying attention, where a pack of gum might last you a week. Still, if you’re the kind of person that enjoys an insane 30 second burst of flavour, check out all of the flavours of Morinaga Hi-Chew, including the regular “Yogurt” flavour–they’re unique and, if you like them, they’re everywhere!

1 Comment

Filed under Reviews

Tagged as , , , , ,