Love it or hate it, there can be no middle ground on the 614 Bar.
Who knew chocolate could be so controversial? Ironically, the 614 Bar is made in Athens, Ohio by O’ Chocolate. Appropriately though, the company makes a 740 bar too. All of its products are based on free trade, organic, premium chocolate. The company produces lots of different sorts of exotic chocolate bars (flavored with stuff like cayenne pepper or sea salt or cloves). It also makes premium truffles.
The packaging on the 614 bar is part of the BUY-ME Magic. The little box features a beautiful Columbus skyline photo by local Larry Hamill. Inside, the chocolate is wrapped in pretty patterned tissue paper folded with a little seal.
But what does Columbus taste like? Its subtitle is “Surly Buckeye with Currants”, which boils down to dark chocolate with “maple syrup-kissed Krema Nut Company peanuts, Scotty McHotty Hot Pepper Blend, and sweet currants.”
The description might give a prediction of how it tastes. While none of the testers reported anything maple-ly, it’s a chocolate bar with a little crunchy texture and a late-hitting mild spiciness.
Detractors on the taste panel put it this way: “Do not want”; “It tastes like the paper it was wrapped in.” “Spicy, not sure if I like that in my chocolate.”
Fans on the taste panel begged to differ. Rather than articulating disagreement, they simply hoarded and ate all the chocolate squares rejected by the detractors.
Surely you want to know what they put in the Athens 740 bar too. It’s described this way: “pure vanilla complements the dark chocolate all while continuing this perfect combination by adding a bit of sea salt. Sea salt is infused with pure vanilla beans by Ancient Roots Botanicals”
So, a salty chocolate bar? 614 vs 740 Sounds like a future Dish Deathmatch in the making.
O’ Chocolate’s website lists a bevy of places where you can score your very own 614 bar. You can also order online at www.athenschocolate.com.