Nestlé Aero: Bubbly mousse (orange & choc)

Product name: Nestlé Aero: Bubbly mousse (orange & choc)
Purchase details: £0.50 for a pack of four mousses (Asda)
Calories: 84 per 58g mousse
Country of origin: UK

I tried the white chocolate and mint versions of Nestlé Aero: Bubbly mousse a couple of years ago so, when I saw a limited edition orange version was available, I couldn’t wait to try it. My relatively recent enjoyment of the orange bar helped too, as did the great price!

The packaging’s design was very much linked with the wrappers found on the chocolate bars. There was also an image of a spoonful of the mousse and, although I liked the look of the chocolate swirl, I did think the combination of the consistency and orange colour was a bit unnerving! However, the colours weren’t artificial, and I knew that the orange flavour was also natural. In addition, the mousse part of this ‘orange flavoured bubbly dessert with chocolate sauce’ made up 88% of the product and, within that, 68% was whole milk – not exactly a scary prospect!

In the end, the actual mousse did have a generally attractive appearance, but it really reminded me of Hallowe’en because the chocolate ripple looked a bit like a spider’s web on an orange backdrop. Unfortunately, I hate Hallowe’en with a passion, so this wasn’t a good thing for me!

In better news, the mousse had a nice orange aroma, although it was more subtle than the chocolate bar's scent. I also really enjoyed the way the soft, foamy texture melted in the mouth.

 

Initially, the flavour didn’t grab me. Rather than tasting like orange chocolate, it was like milk with a hint of orange and stronger cocoa hints. I also felt that it was a bit artificial, despite the evidence to the contrary. Thankfully, though, the flavour improved as I went on, and I particularly enjoyed the bits which contained more of the chocolate sauce – I’d never really appreciated before just how important the chocolate is in orange-flavoured chocolate!

On the whole, I thought this was a great product for the calories. The serving size was decent, both in appearance and, despite the air, in weight. I would have preferred a stronger orange flavour with more of a kick but this was still great as an everyday kind of snack.

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.25/10

Nestlé Aero: Bubbly white

Product name: Nestlé Aero: Bubbly white
Purchase details: Two 41g bars for £1.00 (Martin’s)
Calories: 221 per bar

I have big confession to make but, at the risk of all other food bloggers turning against me, I have to stick to my honesty policy...I was one of the people who voted for Nestlé to release a white chocolate version of the Aero bar when there was a Facebook campaign a few months ago. I’m really sorry, guys – I just love white chocolate so much so, for me, the idea didn’t seem ‘boring’ at all!

As it happened, I nearly missed out altogether on trying this limited edition White bubbly that was produced for the UK and Ireland. I searched high and low and, in the end, my Dad came to the rescue when he found it in Martin’s. Since he took advantage of the multibuy offer, I don’t know how much a single bar would have cost, and he couldn’t remember!

The ‘smooth milk chocolate filled with vanilla flavoured bubbles’ featured cream-coloured bubbles on the wrapper but I was a little confused by the description – it didn’t particularly sound like white chocolate. I am a vanilla fan too, though, so I hoped it would still be delicious.

The bar was part of Nestlé’s Cocoa Plan and contained chocolate as the main ingredient – presumably as the centre was largely air! The chocolate contained a minimum of 14% milk solids and produced the same aroma as a standard Aero which, I think, is quite an unusual chocolatey scent.

The shape of the bar was identical to the orange version but the filling was pale rather than orange in colour. Due to the general concept being unchanged, the bar also had the same enjoyable texture where the centre almost collapsed and became chewy under pressure.

Unfortunately, I did feel let down by the taste. The milk chocolate coating had the usual, slightly bitter cocoa taste that Aeros have, but the centre just tasted a bit weird. The first thing I thought of when I took a bite was that it reminded me of margarine – not really the kind of comparison I was hoping to make! However, it did improve greatly as I went on, with this unusual flavour being overpowered by the chocolate itself, although it was still much less chocolatey than a normal Aero. Guttingly (yeah, that’s a word!), it just didn’t taste like white chocolate or vanilla. However, it did taste better when allowing the thick melt to take control, and I actually preferred the mellowed chocolate flavour on offer here to a plain Aero.

I can’t pretend this bar didn’t disappoint me. It was fine but that’s pretty much all it was. Fair play to Nestlé, though, for letting the customer choose the variety. Maybe next time they should go down the ‘choose a Chunky champion’ route that Kit Kat used, allowing people to try before they vote. If this had been real and solid white chocolate, my views would probably be different, but if I’d know this would be the execution before I voted, I probably would have opted for the cappuccino or strawberry versions instead!

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 6.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.25/10

Nestlé Aero (orange)

Product name: Nestlé Aero (orange)
Purchase details: £0.29 for a 41g bar or four for £1.00 (Home Bargains)
Calories: 221 per bar

I’ve been looking for the new white chocolate Nestlé Aero for a few weeks now, with no luck, so I decided to take up this great offer on the orange variety whilst my search continues! It was only when I spotted them in Home Bargains that I realised how long it’s been since I’ve had orange Aero chocolate. In fact, whilst I know I’ve definitely had the Bubbles before, I’m not certain I’ve ever had the standard bar version.

It was the orange bubbles on the white wrapper that drew my attention to this bar of ‘smooth milk chocolate filled with orange flavoured bubbles’ that had been produced for the UK and Ireland market. This shade was replicated in the aerated centre beneath the glossy chocolate coating (containing a minimum of 14% milk solids) and I noticed that the colour had been achieved through the use of paprika extract.

The bar itself was divided into 10 domed sections that were intended to look like bubbles (notice a theme here?!) and each segment had the Aero logo imprinted on it. I was pleased to find a strong orange scent on opening the wrapper and, whilst this seemed a bit sweeter than the aroma of Terry's Chocolate Orange: Milk, it had a lighter feel to it too.

Unsurprisingly, the bar had Aero’s usual enjoyable aerated texture, and I liked how this centre was soft enough to give way when allowing a piece to melt on the tongue. When chewing, the bar felt quite thick and slightly grainy, so it really made an impact in the mouth.

The chocolate was quite creamy on first taste but then a tang broke through. The flavour was actually quite innocent but it was recognisably orange. I didn’t find the tanginess to be as strong as a Tery's Chocolate Orange: Milk but it did have a slightly metallic element and, like the scent, it felt a bit lighter.

This Nestlé Aero (orange) was as orange chocolate should be: full of flavour and incredibly moreish. I thoroughly enjoyed every mouthful and could easily take advantage of this bargainous offer again!

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 8/10
Taste: 8.5/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 8/10