Aero Matcha-Kinako combines four of my favorite elements: chocolate, green tea, kinako and air. Now that I think about it, I might be able to live on just these four things were I to be abandoned on a small island for any length of time. I would allow Aero-chan, the kimono-clad toy poodle that serves as Aero's mascot, to be present, but only if she did tea ceremony for me and served me sweets.

I would not want Aero Matcha-Kinako to be among those sweets.

It's not that this candy is terrible -- the chocolate coating is milky and sweet, the center tastes mildly of matcha -- but I expect big things from any candy that incorporates kinako and even bigger from one that throws matcha into the mix. I want taste explosions! Mellow kinako nuttiness cut with the fresh, green taste of matcha and rounded out with a thin layer of milk chocolate. Doesn't that sound good? Don't you wish Aero Matcha-Kinako tasted like that? ...Yeah, me too.

I taste no kinako whatsoever in this candy. If Aero-chan knew me at all, she would know I find false kinako advertising to be the gravest of betrayals.

Aero is originally a UK candy creation, but as with KitKat, Nestlé releases special, Japan-only limited edition flavors. (A Peach flavor has been released alongside Matcha-Kinako.) I fear I may be as underwhelmed by the range of novelty Aero flavors as I am with KitKats. The appeal of Aero is apparently its unique texture, the result of a top-secret method which disperses air bubbles throughout the chocolate, transforming it into something light and almost chewy. Its slogan in the English-speaking world is "Have you felt the bubbles melt?" which sounds very Japanese-style English to me. Maybe that's why it is popular here.

For some amusing puzzlement, I recommend checking out the Aero Land website, which features pictures of a poodle which is apparently the actual Aero-chan. She is not wearing a kimono though. I have been disappointed by Aero once again.