When I lived in England, there were three things I did routinely for fun: Drink, watch reruns of The Simpsons, and eat chocolate. Not necessarily in that order, but often during the course of a single day. There was this milk chocolate candy bar called Wispa, which was very fun to say in a British accent and unique to my American chocolate sensibilities due to the fact that it was “aerated.” The chocolate had tiny air bubbles in it, which didn’t change the flavor of the bar in any way, but did make the texture a little creamier. Cadbury’s Wispa bar was sort of interesting for what it was at the time (it was discontinued after I left and renamed Dairy Milk Bubbly, which sounds HORRIBLE), but it was still a plain old chocolate bar that melted in me gob faster than I could say “Bob’s-your-uncle.” Gov’na.
Inexplicably, aerated chocolate has been a trend in Europe for a long time (see also: Aero bars), and now, it’s finally landed on our shores. Hershey’s has released a similar milk chocolate bar that they have dubbed “Hershey’s Air Delight.” Just like the Wispa, it’s chock-full o’ holes. Irregularly-shaped holes. Now let’s get something nice and sparkling clear. I happen to be one of those people who has an unpleasant visceral reaction to the sight of many irregularly-shaped holes or circles clustered together on an object. Things like sea sponges and rashes make my skin crawl. I don’t believe I’m alone in this. OK, maybe I am… But at least I know that it could be a lot worse.
One of my very good friends can’t stand the sight of bubbles or a mound of beads when they are evenly-spaced and of equal shape and size, which you are probably far more likely to encounter in daily life. As a clean freak, the possibility of constantly getting the creepy-crawlies from dish bubbles would mean I was destined for a lifetime of discomfort, so I’m grateful for the small (evenly-shaped) things.
That being said, Hershey’s Air Delight Aerated Milk Chocolate uses these misshapen air bubbles to make you think they’ve packed more chocolate into the same package when they’re actually giving you less. Half of the candy bar you just bought is air. The Air Delight bar is divided into several rectangular pieces, just like the original Hershey’s bar, but the pieces are slightly thicker. When you bite into it, it feels a little bit crumblier and crispier than a normal chocolate bar, but that could be because the holes (ergh!) are collapsing upon each other. The aerated milk chocolate itself tastes like regular milk chocolate and seems a bit creamier.
Now, let’s get to the uncomfortable part. The holes (gah!) are like honeycomb. Teensy little bubbles in the chocolate. I tried not to look too closely lest I would want to scratch off my own flesh, but it was actually not that bad. I guess the knowledge that the bubble/holes are edible and not caused by pestilence makes it more tolerable.
Anyway, Hershey’s Air Delight is a fine milk chocolate bar with a nice milk chocolate flavor, even if the aerating process doesn’t really add anything to it but a slight crunchiness when you bite and a smooth creaminess when you chew — a small reward for blowing air holes in my candy. Now if they had been speed holes to make the chocolate bar go faster, that would have been awesome.
(Nutrition Facts – 1 bar (1.44 ounces/40 grams) – 200 calories, 12 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0.5 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 0.5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 30 milligrams of sodium, 300 milligrams of potassium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 22 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein, 8% calcium, and 2% iron.)
Item: Hershey’s Air Delight Aerated Milk Chocolate Bar
Price: $1.19
Size: 1.44 ounces
Purchased at: CVS
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Delicious Hershey’s milk chocolate flavor. Fanciful chocolate bar names spoken in foreign accents. Bigger, thicker candy bar pieces. Has a nice crunch. Melts in your mouth. Speed holes.
Cons: Irregularly-shaped holes. Aeration process does nothing more than inject air into the candy and siphon money from your wallet. Creepy-crawlies. European candy trends that don’t really make sense. Candy bar holes are not speed holes.
Ahh, a fellow trypophobic. I refuse to eat these for that very reason. 🙁
They remind me of the bee hives.
I hate bees
I would rather eat an areo bar.
They make Wispas here in the UK again. I think they did stop for a while, but I’ve got a pack of 4 of them in my kitchen right now. They are a whole different class of aerated chocolate than Aeros and the others. Why bother aerating Hershey’s chocolate? It’s still gonna taste like Hershey’s chocolate.
Ah so aerated chocolate is finally making its way to the US. They brought out Wispa here again last year, they also brought out a wispa gold which was the aerated normal wispa topped with caramel mmm. If you really love wispa I could send you a couple of bars over if you want? Always like to share chocolate!
Back in the 70s, there was a chocolate bar here in America called “Chocolite.” I don’t remember who made it, but it was the same exact thing– aerated milk chocolate. They were pretty yummy.
I like these. I know that it’s half air, but part of my brain seems to believe that bigger is better. “Look at the thickness of that thing. Score!” And the texture is a nice change from regular chocolate bars. I would rate it at 8/10.
A friend in the UK sent me some Mint Aeros recently, they aere Aewsomae! I bought one of these today, I just hope they’re half as good.
Me and my mum have the same fear of clusters of small round things like holes. I didn’t realise there was a name for it until I read these comments!
Back to the chocolate.. the US seems to be a bit behind on the aerated chocolate thing! Here in the UK we have lots of different types and makes. I got a white chocolate one last week, it was yum. Hershey’s chocolate is disgusting though so I wouldn’t be wanting a faster-melting version of that.
Chocolite…I knew there was one back when I was a ute. Man did I love me some chocolite.
You are not alone. It’s called Trypophobia (fear of clusters/holes etc) My skin is crawling just thinking about it
I remember when I didn’t know what this was called, I just told people I was scared of a bunch of dots clustered in one place. I have a very vivid memory of looking up Trypophobia in google images and turning away, I she started screaming so I started screaming “X IT OUT! X IT OUT!” And we just screamed until I covered my eyes and closed the browser.
that’s so weird….I’d def try it though, even though the holes creep me out a bit 🙂
I loved this candy bar…reminds me of the aero sold in the UK and Canada.
This isn’t a European trend; Canada has had Aero bars (and recently multiple varieties of Aero) at least as long as I’ve been alive…don’t ask how long that is.
I just tried one of these bars for the first time tonight, as the vending contractor had substituted them for Hershey’s with Almonds in our snack machines at work.
What a disappointment–and a weird aftertaste. Less chocolate–and LESS CHOCOLATE.
Evidently, they’re replacing some of the [expected] amount of cocoa butter with a substance called PGPR, or polyglycerol polyricinoleate. It’s made from castor bean oil and is added to chocolate to improve its viscosity.
From a quick Google search, I learned that this saves Hershey a boatload of money as they can sell their excess cocoa butter to the cosmetics industry for more than it would net if used in candy bars.
Lest you think that I’m some kooky conspiracy theorist–look it up yourself.
I tried one; they’re fine. By that I mean that they taste just like you’d expect: a crumbly version of a Hershey’s bar, no more, no less. Me, I like Mint Aeros a lot more.
Maybe someone should have reviewed this who doesn’t have irrational phobic reactions to the very concept of the candy bar in question?
Yeeeeeah, I wasn’t a fan of that candy bar. Like you said, not any more chocolate in the package, but they’ll make you pay for it anyway.
Hershey’s selling air and moving plants to Mexico while we could use a few jobs in the US, makes me want to avoid their products all together. Go ahead and argue idiots, how I want a better price at Wal-Mart. NO I don’t. I want American’s to have jobs more than I want cheap crap. Keep the air from Mexico, Hershey.
I’m totally quoting the way you explained that aversion to looking at small holes that we both have. I really thought I was the only one!! everyone thinks I’m so wierd when I try to explain. I saw this by chance and I’m glad I did! haha
Most everything could do with a few speedholes
It is kind of a copy of chocolate lite from nestle’ from the 70’s.
I cant believe how otherwise smart people in the West get taken for a ride by these large corporations, this aero delight is nothing but a cheap ploy by Hersheys to reduce the actual amount of choclate and fill it up with air, you are paying part of your well earned money for air, please send that change to me, at least i deserve it more than Hersheys.
I dont get it, why would anyone pay that much for air?? uuuumm you can breathe and eat it for free ya know~~~
I just think its their way of giving us less chocolate..
I thought maybe the bubbles are meant to also increase the surface area that contacts one’s tongue, making a more pleasurable flavor.
I like to let a piece of chocolate melt in my mouth slowly, to get more flavor and longer enjoyment. To me, Aero bars are nice for that, especially the dark chocolate ones I never see in the USA. My tongue can feel the bubbled texture as the chocolate melts.
The Hershey Air Delight didn’t feel or taste as good, to me. The chocolate’s too soft for me to feel the bubbles. It melts so quickly that the tongue doesn’t feel the bubbles.
She’s a witch, Lisa.
I tried one.
She went to Pat’s.
I love Hershey Chocolate, But Air Delight is a swing and a miss.Totally a waste
Wow why would you pay for air bubbles????????????????? Must be more money then brains!!!!
Well the phobia of clusters of irregular holes is new to me and pretty freakin weird. On the
other hand it makes me laugh. Anyhow, I don’t care for Hershey’s chocolate or very much chocolate in general but I like these. Don’t ask me why. I like the texture I think… Not so dense.
They just found a niche to sell less chocolate for more money… same flavor, same Kiss… just lighter, and more expensive.
i seem to have more flatulens since trying them
When purchasing a bag of the Air Delight Kisses we noted the original kisses were the same price but the gram weight was twice that of the Air Delight version. We decided to try them anyway to see if the taste was superior. Family verdict is we prefer the taste of the original–add on that the original has a better chocolate/money ratio and we will not be repurchasing Air Delight.
Air for consumers dumb enough to buy this crap. Much more profit for Hershey’s.
the first time that I took a bite I thought that this Hersheys bar took away my anger away.
I agree, get ready as they try to market everything to make bigger profits by adding delicious air. Im just going to buy something else
Hersheys new product has recently become the “laughingstock” of the internet, and widely renowned as a complete joke. This chocolate is scientifically proven to increase weight in patients. Taking out the air seems to decrease the weight of consumers by as much as 50 calories per serving. It is from this research, that we declare this product a fail by hershey. Some internet savvy individuals might consider this an “epic fail”, to be quite frank, in fact, failblog.org has a picture of the bags as their homepage image. But if you still want even FEWER calories than a regular chocolate kiss, just eat some morsels, am I right?
This review is totally hilarious. Thanks for the LOLs. (I like Air Delight, but it’s a novelty for me, for now.)
Creepy addendum: Yes, even while consuming it, I was reminded of a larva-infested batch of fundraising candy I had the misfortune to buy a few of several decades ago. I got over it quick, though.
I tried my first one ever yesterday. It was in a free “goodie bag” from a local food pantry, so I can’t complain about the price. I absolutely loved the texture. I am a denture wearer and although of course I adore chocolate in many forms, a regular Hershey’s milk chocolate bar requires either slow dissolving in my toothless mouth, or messy chomping. This product, on the other hand, was a gentle chew and pleasant melt, and I for one hope it will be a keeper.
I personally feel that this chocolate was disgusting. The after taste was what really turned me off about this product the most.
AUGHH! I can’t look at that picture for more than a second and a half. I feel the same way about circular shaped things really close together (English muffins….yech).
I’m thankful for this review though, I have been wondering if there was a method to this Hershey madness.
Ok, the bubbles aversion is new to me. I love beads and marbles, I even like drawing irregular bubbles. I miss areo bars here in the US. I love their open texture, the delight of each organic sphere. Of course, it could be argued that it’s a chocolate cheat, but doughnuts, polos/life saves and bagels all come into the same category. Can I have your air delight bar?
I am soooo glad I am not alone in this feeling towards honeycomb shaped like things. I thought it was only my brother and I that began to feel all this anxiety and wanted to just destroy the object that had all these little bubbles in them. That being said I like this chocolate for this reason, sure it gives me anxiety but I get to eat it and destroy all the little bubbles that are the source of my anxiety. It’s almost like therapy =p.
tripipobia
Ok so I was so excited when this came out but very disappointed when I tried it I think it taste like a chocolate bar that has been melted then soldified again then melted and solidified all crumbly and chalky flavored needless to say I don’t like it but my oldest son loves it.
Does the air make it that much better?
So, I tried one, and it was not what I expected it to be. Normally, chocolate (without almonds, caramel, etc.) would taste wholesome and delightful. The way it melts in your mouth and drifts you off into some kind of chocolatey bliss for a moment or two. That’s what I thought it was going to be like. That was NOT the case. Oh sure, I took a bite, and it was creamy, but there was something missing to it. It melted and tasted OK, but that chocolatey bliss and a moment of happiness wasn’t really there. I felt like I was eating air; chocolate flavoured air to be exact. So, aerated chocolate? It needs to go and fade into memory. 1/5 stars.
I tried it once and was disappointing, so I tried it again a few months later and still didn’t enjoy it much. It reminds me of an old chocolate bar with the crisp parts. Once it melted in my mouth it tasted just like a regular Hershey’s Bar, but I could have just bought an original if that was what I wanted. I wish they sold the Cadbury version though, they have my FAVORITE chocolate! I bet they managed to do it right 🙂 It’s to bad America doesn’t have all the Cadbury items England has!
Clever way for candy companies to sell air.