Chicago smells like chocolate–sometimes, depending on where you’re standing. That sweet aroma overtaking the winds near the Loop and surrounding neighborhoods is most likely coming from the Blommer Chocolate Company at 600 W Kinzie. And now, thanks to a new blog, people who can’t get enough of the smell can attempt to track it down and delight in its richness.
The Daily Chicago Chocolate Smell Map started off as a gag, and to some extent still is, according to its creator Ian Petchenik. But the tumblr blog, which maps a radius for the drifting chocolaty scent, was an instant hit with local social media users.
“I absolutely did not expect the level of enthusiasm the map would generate,” Petchenik said. “The feedback has been surprisingly strong and remarkably positive.”
That could be due to the impact the Blommer chocolate factory has on Chicago’s cultural identity, becoming a distinctive characteristic of the city for visitors and residents.
“It’s always been one of those things you talk about,” said Petchenik, who grew up in the Chicago area and can remember getting whiffs of the chocolate when in the city. “It’s one of those things that’s always in the back of your mind.”
How accurate is the map? Not extremely, Petchenik admits. He uses wind direction, and now includes user input to manually map an estimated region of chocolate smell. But the educational technologist said the map was supposed to be just a fun joke.
It started when Petchenik’s friend mentioned on Twitter that she thought Chicago smelled like brownies. Petchenik quickly drafted the map and he and his friends had a good laugh. He made another map, and then a daily blog before local Blommer lovers started sharing the renderings across their networks.
The popularity has encouraged Petchenik to make the map more accurate, he said, and he is open to working with others to do it. For now, he says, “it’s just more of an interesting, fun thing.” A fun thing for Chicago and its Blommer-lovers to bond over.
@JetSetCD Love these days when the wind blows just right and the city gets the smell of chocolate in the air from the west side factories.
— Bruce Bere (@NonRevAdventure) September 29, 2014
@petchmo @JetSetCD Is this an actual site or do you run 'Patchmo Chocolate Wind Script' every morning? Awesome!
— Bruce Bere (@NonRevAdventure) September 29, 2014
@petchmo This is why we are friends.
— Bruce Bere (@NonRevAdventure) September 29, 2014
You can follow the map’s progress on Twitter.
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DANG!