Afternoon Tea x Pocky

Kirin bottled tea brand "Gogo no Koucha" (午後の紅茶 meaning "Afternoon Tea") and Glico's "Pocky Midi" currently have a collaboration product campaign going on.

If you buy a bottle of Gogo no Koucha's "Honnori Cinnamon no Apple Tea" (ほんのりシナモンのアップルティー meaning "faintly cinnamon apple tea") and a box of "Butter Hanayagu Potteri Custard" (バター華やぐ ぽってりカスタード loosely meaning "Buttery Rich Custard") Pocky Midi, you can combine the packages to make a charming fairytale scene.

Being a sucker for advertising--although I also do happen to like both Gogo no Koucha and Pocky quite a lot--of course I had to go out and buy both products shortly after seeing the ad. (At Lawson's, it was 151yen for the Gogo no Koucha, and 193 yen for the Pocky Midi.)

On the package, it recommends drinking some tea eating some Pocky, and then drinking tea again for the best taste experience. Apparently the tea is supposed to taste different after eating the Pocky, but I honestly couldn't tell the difference.

The tea is tasty; although if you are hoping for a good balance of cinnamon and apple, you'll probably be disappointed since--true to the flavour name--it really is nothing more than a "faint" after taste of cinnamon at best. But--as I find to be the case with most white-chocolate based treats--the Pocky is rather over sweet. Surprisingly it does actually have a bit of a buttery taste, though, so it's not just a standard custard flavour.  

What I liked most about the products, though, is the variety of arrangements possible due to the fact that there are two different Pocky box designs and the label on the tea also has two different designs.

Based on the advertising, it's likely the makers intended them to be aligned in this manner:

 

But the products can also be aligned in this manner if you so desire:

 

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I'd like to think this could be considered a small win for equality?