Bean to Barstool

In this episode, we talk with Christopher Nobles of Piety & Desire Chocolate in New Orleans.I visited New Orleans a very long time ago on a college road trip, and a lot of my images from that trip are still so sharp and clear. My impression of the city was that it didn't feel like it could exist in the United States, like it existed in a parallel version of the US or in a foreign country. The buildings and the foliage and the cemeteries—it all felt like it was just draped in this elegant decay. I haven't been back, sadly, but would love to revisit it now after having seen a lot more of the world and see how the city has changed, but more importantly, how I've changed and how my impressions of a place change with that.Christopher Nobles is a lifelong New Orleans resident, and at Piety & Desire Chocolate he brings elegance and indulgence to his range of bars and confections. In true Big Easy style, many of them incorporate alcoholic beverages from some of the city's new generation of producers. We talk about the flavors of New Orleans, its personality, and how it all makes its way into his chocolate.You can learn more about Piety & Desire Chocolate and order their bars on their website, or follow them on Instagram. Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

In this episode, we talk with Greg & T from Front Porch Chocolate in Montana. They've crafted many of their excellent inclusion bars—Including Chai Rose, Fig & Cherry, and Strawberry Lemon—with beer pairing in mind, and here we talk with them about the concepts behind their bars and the beer pairings they've designed for each. The bars we discuss include:Orange ThymeStrawberry LemonTiramisuFig & CherryChai RoseAs Greg says during our interview, "You could experience a chocolate bar on its own, you could experience a beer on its own, but when you put them together you experience something completely new."You can learn more about Front Porch Chocolate and order their bars on their website, and you can follow them on Instagram here. Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

For our 100th full length episode of Bean to Barstool, we're talking with an old friend and supporter of the pod, Estelle Tracy. Estelle leads chocolate tastings and pairings through her business, 37 Chocolates, and in this episode we're tasting and pairing the adventurous bars from her new curated collection. Which wines and beers do we pair with a bar inspired by Beijing lamb skewers? How about the always challenging 100% cacao bar, or a bar loaded with chili pepper? Listen in as we have a fun time coming up with pairings  for these unusual bars.You can learn more about Estelle and her work on her website, and you can follow her on Instagram.You can order the "Adventurous Palate" pairing box we taste and pair in the episode here.You can listen to our previous episode on pairing with wine and beer here. Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

In this episode, we talk with Dorothy Neary of NearyNogs Chocolate in Northern Ireland. We discuss the importance of music in Irish culture and how it's influenced several of their chocolate bars, the use of distinctly Irish ingredients like gorse flower and seaweed, and the beautiful natural landscape around their factory that influences them creatively. We also discuss their use of Irish whiskey in several bars, and pairing with whiskey. You can learn more about NearyNogs on their website.You can learn more about the Chocolate, Beer, and Chocolate Beer event I mentioned at Third Eye Brewing and purchase tickets here. Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

In this episode we talk with Michael Beans of Namesake Coffee in Dayton, Ohio. Michael and his wife and business partner, Jessica Beans, run Namesake with thought and intention, infusing their personalities into every aspect of their business. They want to remove the intimidation factor from good coffee, eliminating the snobbery and gatekeeping that can keep people from seeking out good coffee, but that doesn't mean they want to remove education and appreciation. Instead, they take coffee drinkers by the hand and lead them into a gracefully self-guided exploration of great coffee. Michael and I discuss how to make great coffee at home without fancy equipment, how he develops roast profiles for new bean origins, and how to taste coffee thoughtfully.You can learn more about Namesake Coffee on their website, where you can order their beans or sign up for a coffee subscription. You can also follow them on Instagram here. Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

Diego Hernandez started Diego's Chocolate at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala in 1990. Diego and his family are of Tz'utujil Mayan heritage, and he adapted his abuela's sipping chocolate recipe into a unique format—rolls of untempered chocolate, often made with unique inclusions. All of the cacao and inclusions are grown in Guatemala.In this episode, we talk with Nico Silverman, Diego's U.S. representative. We talk about Diego's story, the details of their chocolate, and Nico's experiences with pairing Diego's Chocolate rolls with craft beer and craft cider in New York state.Listen to the end of the episode for an exclusive discount code for 20% everything on the Diego's shop!You can learn more about Diego's on their website and follow them on Instagram.You can also learn more about Wolf Hollow Brewing, Dancing Grain Farm Brewery, and Nine Pin Ciders.Guest:Nico Silverman—While employed at Etsy.com in 2012, Nico stumbled into the world of craft chocolate and discovered Diego's unique chocolate rolls, a revelation that changed his trajectory. Drawing from a background in nonprofit development and project management, he saw an opportunity to create meaningful impact through ethical commerce. Since then, he has brought Diego's Chocolate to thousands of consumers across North America while creating jobs in Guatemala where each roll is handcrafted and packaged. His work bridges traditional Mayan chocolate-making with conscious consumers, preserving ancestral practices while building economic opportunities for artisan and farming communities. Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

I recently talked with Serge Savchuk, owner and chocolate maker at Vaka Chocolate in London, Ontario. We talked about the inspiration behind his spirits-infused or -inspired bars, including bars made with whisky, absinthe, gin, and rum, using spirits from North of 7 Distillery and Junction 56 Distillery. We also talked about what motivates him in developing unique inclusion, like his unexpected dill pickle and peanut butter bar. What I was left with from this conversation was Serge's childlike sense of wonder at what flavor can do, an idea that has been central to Bean to Barstool since we launched nearly 5 years ago.We also discussed bars from Rozsavolgyi, Ritual, and Soma.You can learn more about Vaka Chocolate on their website or on Instagram. Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

Much of Tandy Peterson's life and career has been shaped by fire, from childhood memories of camping to working as a chef in a fine dining restaurant that cooked exclusively over fire. When she started making craft chocolate, she chose the name Embers as a nod to point when a cooking fire is perfectly cooked down, a moment of perfection. In this episode we talk with Tandy Peterson of Embers Chocolate in Phoenix, Arizona. We discuss her spirits-infused bars using bourbon, mezcal, and other spirits that are made utilizing techniques not many makers are using, including soaking sugars, milk powder, and inclusion ingredients in the spirits themselves. We also discuss her unique, award-winning Elote bar that emulates the flavors of Mexican street corn.You can learn more about Embers Chocolate and order their bars here, and you can follow them on Instagram here.  Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

In today's episode, we talk with Lucia Carrillo—founder and head brewer at Cervecería Itañeñe in Mexico City, a very small brewery that's big on flavor, often using ingredients from Mexican culinary traditions, or even endemic to the country—and her partner Rodrigo Romo, who also brews at Itañeñe and works at Tout Chocolat making craft chocolate bars and bon bons, pastries, and coffee at its cafes in the Mexico City area. Rodrigo and Lucia have worked together on beers and chocolates that use similar ingredients—including flavors and ingredients endemic to Mexican ecology or used in Mexican culinary traditions—as well as beers using chocolate or its ingredients, or chocolates using beer or its ingredients, to blur the lines between these worlds.I first tried one of Itañeñe's beers at the Great Mexican Beer Fiesta at Cervecería Colorado in Denver, several years ago. The one-day fest takes place during the Great American Beer Festival at the same time, and it's my favorite part of GABF week. Cervecería Colorado and Itañeñe had collaborated on a beer brewed with rosita de cacao, a flower unrelated to theobroma cacao, but sharing some cocoa-like flavors.This past fall I had the privilege of being a judge at Copa Cerveza Mexico, and finally got to meet Lucia and Rodrigo. Later in the trip, I walked to Tout's beautiful Hippodrome location and sat at an outdoor cafe table enjoying a flat white and several of their excellent bon bons.I had the chance to talk with Lucia and Rodrigo recently about their pursuit of unique flavors, their chocolate and beer collaborations, and what makes Mexican beer and chocolate unique and exciting. At the outset, I asked how they got involved in these worlds in the first place.Guests:Lucia Carrillo—Food engineer, beer judge, sommelier, sensory panel judge, and Itañeñe brewer with more than 50 beer medals.Rodrigo Romo—Itañeñe brewer, pastry chef, winner of the Sweet Arts competition, chocolatier, and winner of more than 30 beer medals. Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

In this episode, we talk with Jenny Risner-Wade, owner and chocolate maker at Yellow Bird Chocolate, and her husband, Ben Wade, co-founder and brewer at Albion Malleable Brewing Company, both in Albion, Michigan.When a chocolate maker and a brewer share a home and a life, ideas can flow back and forth and lead to unique collaborations. In this case, collaborations have included Unnecessary Evil, an Imperial Milk Stout brewed with cocoa powder, cacao husks, and cacao nibs, a chocolate bar made with nibs used in the beer, a number of beer-infused truffles, and an ice cream beer float with beer-infused chocolate shavings.Bean to Barstool host David Nilsen recently sat down with Jenny and Ben to talk about the collaborations between Yellow Bird and Albion Malleable, and the creative opportunities provided by having these businesses run side by side. You can find out more about Albion Malleable Brewing here.You can find out more about Yellow Bird Chocolate here.Other businesses mentioned in the episode include Conexion, Dwaar Chocolate, Norton's Brewing, and Zorzal Cacao. Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

I love beer flights. One of the things that makes craft beer so much fun is its sheer variety of styles, interpretations of those styles, and ways of using those styles for flavor experimentation. A flight is an opportunity to explore. A flight board might have an Abbey Dubbel, a Munich Dunkel, an ESB, and a Biere de Garde, taking you on a sensory trip to Belgium, Germany, England, and France a few ounces of beer at a time. Flights aren't without their critics—and valid criticisms—but at their best they represent curiosity, excitement, and joy, all qualities craft beer needs right now as it weathers its current market challenges.Why am I talking about flights? Because today we're talking with the king of beer flights, Joel Geier. Joel runs the @brewery_travels Instagram and Twitter accounts and is the author of the new book Flights Across America: A Brewery Lover's Journey, chronicling his beer adventures to over 1,300 breweries across all 50 states. That's an incredible number, meaning Joel has probably visited one in every six or seven breweries in the entire country. And at as many of those breweries as allow it, he's ordered a flight. In the book, Joel gives tips on beer travel, provides hundreds of brewery recommendations, and reminds us how much fun beer is supposed to be.In our conversation, Joel and I discuss our love of flights, how he keeps track of his journeys and the beers and breweries along the way, and some of his favorite stops from his beer voyages.There's been a lot of bad news in craft beer lately, but this conversation between two beer lovers is a chance to rediscover some of the excitement that got us into craft beer in the first place. Thanks for listening! Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter and to get regular updates!

The Chimay line of Belgian ales are brewed at Scourmont Abbey in bucolic Chimay, Belgium, under the supervision of the Trappist monks who call the abbey home. The monastery was founded in 1850 and has been brewing and selling beer to support the upkeep of the property and the lives of the brothers since 1862. Many Belgian beer styles pair beautifully with craft or bean to bar chocolate, and the beers of the Chimay line exemplify this. Let's talk about craft chocolate pairings for Chimay's Trappist ales!Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Chocolate educator Kathryn Laverack of Cocoa Encounters and The Brown Cow pub proprietor Victoria Hopper have partnered on numerous chocolate and drink pairings, and events highlighting chocolate or cacao cocktails. I recently sat down with Kathryn and Victoria to ask them about the union of cacao and spirits, what they've learned from each other, and what they'd like people to understand about making chocolate or cacao drinks. Along the way we discuss specific cocktail and pairing ideas they've used in the past, and even workshopped a few ideas for the future. Imagine, if you will, sitting in a warm, cozy British pub, and join us as we discuss chocolate, cacao, and cocktails. You can learn more about Cocoa Encounters here.You can learn more about The Brown Cow here.Guests:Kathryn Laverack is a UK-based chocolate educator and international chocolate judge. With over ten years experience tasting fine chocolate, Kathryn teaches the art of sensorial tasting and the evaluation of fine chocolate to consumers and professionals. As founder of Cocoa Encounters, Kathryn curates events that make fine chocolate come alive for people, experiences that relate chocolate to people's passions, interests, and concerns, be that fine food, fine wine and spirits, art, literature, or simply the desire to make the world a better place.  Victoria Hopper and her husband, Nigel, have been running pubs in rural Lincolnshire for the last 18 years, including their current pub, the Brown Cow in Louth. They've introduced on-trend craft lagers, seasonal themed menu evenings, and live music events, and they've created strong bonds with the community through their support of local charities and sports groups. This local landlady always manages to sprinkle a touch of something special that her customers would tell you is just “very Vic…”Away from the pub, she is a Mum to two teenage boys who are very much part of this family run pub.  Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Welcome to Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, where we spend about 5 minutes with some of our favorite people from craft beer and craft chocolate. Today we hear from Nick Davis, the founder and chocolate maker at One One Cacao in Jamaica. In this clip, Nick talks about some of the challenges facing cacao farmers and laborers in Jamaica, what needs to change give craft chocolate more visibility, and how making chocolate can help Nick's family and other Jamaican families reclaim their heritage.  Enjoy!You can learn more about One One Cacao here.You can listen to my entire interview with Nick here.Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Zadkiela Rios is a chemical engineer by training and a brewing professional by trade. Zadky isfrom Venezuela originally and is currently working in Australia, and she's best known to beer, beverage, and chocolate fans on Instagram as @Zadky_Beer_to_Bar. She and I have followed each other for years, and it's been fun to not only follow her interest in pairing beer and craft chocolate—a niche interest not too many other people have put an emphasis on—but also her polyglot fluency in a range of indulgences, including spirits, wine, and cigars as well. In this episode, Zadky and I discuss pairing beer and chocolate, how tasting and loving other beverages gives her a broad perspective, the role of travel in expanding her flavor vocabulary, and how her science background informs her tasting experiences. Listen in and learn from Zadkiela Rios.  Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

The inaugural Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival will take place Friday-Saturday, November 22-23 in the small town of Rushville, Indiana. This is a really unique event in the world of craft chocolate. Most of our festivals are in big cities on the coasts—New York, Seattle, San Francisco—but craft chocolate is all about cacao, the farms where it's grown, and the farmers and farm workers who grow it, so where better to hold a celebration of chocolate than a farming community in America's heartland? Rushville is a small town about an hour southeast of Indianapolis, and the town leaders are eager to introduce their downtown to the world and vice versa. During their annual Christmas on Main event on the weekend before Thanksgiving, the town will welcome a craft chocolate festival that will bring bean to bar makers, chocolatiers, cacao farmers, and educators together to celebrate all things craft chocolate.This festival is the brainchild of Dustin Cornett, the chocolate maker who owns Chocolat Cafe. He's also the creator of the Craft Chocolat Challenge, an internationally-recognized competition for bean to bar chocolate makers. The event is being hosted and supported by the great folks at Heart of Rushville.In today's episode we talk with Barb Genuario, whom many of us know on Instagram as @chocochaser. Barb is an educator and writer and the co-founder of the D.C. Chocolate Society. For many years, she was an assistant chocolate maker at Harper McCaw before they closed, and she is one of the most enthusiastic cheerleaders for craft chocolate. Barb is one of the organizers of the Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival, and I talked with her recently to get the details for the event and learn the unique vision behind this festival.We also hear from Leila Carvajal Erker, CEO of Cocoa Supply. Cocoa Supply is the title sponsor of the Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival, and I reached out to Leila to ask what has her excited about the festival. Leila has been on the Bean to Barstool podcast several times in the past, once to talk about the background of her company and their focus on providing excellent cacao nibs for craft breweries, and once to talk specifically about the cacao fruit pulp products they've developed for brewers and other beverage makers. More details can be found on the festival website. Tickets can be purchased here. Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

While the bean in Bean to Barstool primarily refers to cacao for chocolate, and the barstool to craft beer, we have also covered craft coffee and spirits on this podcast periodically, and we're looking at doing that more often going forward. Today's guest brings both of those worlds together, giving new meaning to the name Bean to Barstool. Charlene Cabioch is a barista and mixologist from France who has a deep knowledge of both specialties, and has professional awards to prove it. She was a winner at the Aeropress World Championship in 2019, and the Coffee in Good Spirits Championship for coffee-infused cocktails in 2021 and 2023. In our conversation today, Charlene talks about what happens during a coffee or cocktail competition, how her love for coffee developed, and how curiosity drives her passion to learn more about her favorite foods, beverages, and the processes and ingredients behind both. Charlene also works with cacao in her cocktails, and we talk about that as well.Charlene is an enthusiastic and energetic personality, and I loved getting to learn from her during our conversation, so listen in as we talk coffee, cacao, cocktails, and curiosity with Charlene Cabioch.  Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Few names in craft chocolate carry as much esteem as Goodnow Farms. Tom and Monica Rogan founded the company in Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 2015, and they cover pretty much the full spectrum of what bean to bar chocolate is all about in their portfolio of chocolate bars, including elegant single origin bars, classic inclusion bars with coffee, nuts, or fruit, unusual inclusions like caramelized onions or green Sichuan peppers, and bars made in collaboration with craft alcohol producers. In this episode, Monica and host David Nilsen talk about those collaborations with distilleries and cideries, the compatibility of coffee and cacao, developing unique flavor concepts, and how Tom and Monica find the right profile to let single origin beans sing. Specific bars discussed in this episode using alcohol include Lawley's Rum, Putnam Rye Whiskey, and Demon Seed made in collaboration with Boston Harbor Distillery, and Unfiltered Hard Cider made in collaboration with Downeast Cider.Other bars discussed include Caramelized Onion, Herbaceous Green Sichuan Pepper, Las Palomas Coffee, Café con Leche, El Carmen with Coffee Crunch, and a variety of single origin bars. You can learn more about Goodnow Farms and order their bars at goodnowfarms.com.Guest: Monica Rogan is the CEO, co-founder, and chocolate maker at Goodnow Farms Chocolate. Her passion for creating exceptional bean-to-bar, single origin chocolate has made her a leader in the craft chocolate industry.Monica has spent years developing strong, direct relationships with cacao farmers and producers throughout Latin America, ensuring mutually beneficial relationships and access to consistently high-quality beans. Transparency, traceability, and an emphasis on fine flavor define her approach to chocolate.Her chocolate has received seven consecutive Good Food Awards, hundreds of international fine flavor awards and a spot on Food & Wine's list of “The Best Chocolate in America.”Monica has a background in construction and real estate development, a BS from James Madison University and an MBA from Pepperdine University. While not making chocolate, Monica enjoys traveling and exploring, edible landscaping, refinishing old furniture and doing science experiments with her children and husband. Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Welcome to Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, where we spend about 5 minutes with some of our favorite people from craft beer and craft chocolate. Today we hear from Raven Hanna, a molecular biochemist and biophysicist and the author of the book One Cacao Tree: Backyard Cocoa, Tiny Fermentations, and Chocolate Making in the Tropics. In this clip, Raven talks about tasting everything we can to expand our flavor vocabularies, and about how creating stories around tasting experiences can help us remember those flavors. Enjoy!You can learn more about Raven here, and purchase her book here.You can listen to my entire interview with Raven here.Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Bean to Barstool celebrated its 4th birthday in August, and today host David Nilsen looks back at the initial idea behind the site and podcast, what's changed over the years, and what the plans are for continuing to grow Bean to Barstool.Thanks to everyone who has listened so far. We're looking forward to what's ahead! Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Standard-strength Porter and Stout styles such as American Porter, English Porter, Oatmeal Stout, Milk Stout, Irish Stout, and some American Stouts feature roasty flavors and aromas from the presence of roasted malts. These grains are roasted similar to how coffee beans and cacao beans get roasted, and take on many of the same flavor notes—coffee and chocolate are two common flavor descriptors for these beer styles.Beers in these styles tend to cast a wide net when paired with chocolate and can work solidly with a wide range of chocolates, making them good to have on hand for impromptu pairings. The trick here is transcending the good pairings to find the great ones.The versatility of beers in these Porter and Stout styles make them good choices if you're hosting friends for an in-home beer and chocolate pairing. If you don't have specific courses planned, one of these styles will work with a number of different bars and allow your guests to find some easy combinations.In this bonus episode, David Nilsen explains which types of craft chocolate to seek out and which to avoid when pairing with standard-strength Porters and Stouts.You can read more about Porter and Stout styles here.You can order my book Pairing Beer & Chocolate on the Bean to Barstool shop or on Amazon.Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Sour ales are a fantastic platform for fruit flavors. The acidity of the base beers dovetails with the brightness of the fruit and can help sell the flavors of the fruit more authentically. There are challenges to pairing these beers though, and most of them are related to variability of the beers themselves: there are so many different ways to make a fruited sour ale. In this bonus episode, David Nilsen walks through the different types of fruited sour ale and explains which types of craft chocolate and seek out and which to avoid when pairing with them.As mentioned in the episode, you can read more about beer fermentation here, or listen to a bonus episode explaining beer fermentation here.You can order my book Pairing Beer & Chocolate on the Bean to Barstool shop or on Amazon.Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Hey, everyone. Welcome to Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, where we spend about 5 minutes with some of our favorite people from craft beer and craft chocolate. Today we hear from Brian Simpson of Riverbend Malt in Asheville, North Carolina. I spoke with Brian all the way back in 2020 for this podcast, but we met up recently for a beer when he was passing through Dayton, and I want to reshare some of his thoughts from that older episode here. Brian shares his thoughts on the meaning of local in craft beer. We prize beers that are brewed locally, but where are the ingredients from? Can a beer be local if it isn't grown locally? Take a few minutes this morning to hear from Brian on what local or regional malt can do for beer.You can find out more about Riverbend Malt here.You can listen to my entire interview with Brian here.Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

In this episode we talk with Franz Zeimetz of Lost Origin Coffee Lab and Casa Bruja brewery and Jaime Pérez of Bocao chocolate, all from Panama. We discuss the state of craft chocolate, craft beer, and coffee in Panama, and a series of experiments and collaborations they've pursued between these three worlds. Franz has used raw cacao fruit from Jaime in a mixed-fermentation Saison, and is experimenting with various cacao and coffee fermentations. You can find out more about Bocao here, Lost Origin Coffee Lab here, and Casa Bruja here.Also mentioned in the episode are Dark Matter Coffee, Omega Yeast, and White Labs. If you want to learn more about cacao fermentation, listen to this episode with cacao agronomist Sarah Bharath.  Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Welcome to Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, where we spend about 5 minutes with some of our favorite people from craft beer and craft chocolate. Today we hear from Hank Marshall and Peter Batinski at Hi-Wire Brewing in Asheville, North Carolina.  Hi-Wire brews an Imperial Stout line called 10W-40, made with French Broad Chocolate cacao, Dynamite coffee, and Ugandan vanilla, as well as a range of other flavor ingredients to evoke specific flavor concepts like Vietnamese coffee, blueberry crumble, or chocolate taco. Listen in as Hank and Peter talk about the base beer for 10w-40 and how they work with coffee, cacao, and vanilla.You can find out more about Hi-Wire Brewing here.You can listen to my entire interview with Hank and Peter here.Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

While I mostly pair craft chocolate with craft beer here at Bean to Barstool, there's a world of great beverages out there for pairing with great chocolate. My good friend Shay Pal seems to have paired bars with most of them through her adventurous tasting and traveling. In this episode, Shay and I discuss how she approaches pairing with craft chocolate, how she avoids getting overwhelmed by the choices in front of her, and how she selects which spirit, wine, coffee, or cocktail to pair with any given bar.This is a fun conversation filled with curiosity, a trait that defines Shay. Enjoy!You can find her on Instagram as @choccoffeewine.In the show we also mentioned our Instagram Live events with Argencove Chocolate. You can find both Live videos on Argencove's Instagram page.You can also follow Estelle Tracy's adventures with pairing wine and chocolate on her Instagram page.Finally, Shay has been on the show before! You can listen to a Bite Sized episode in which Shay and I discuss one of our favorite bars (Crow & Moss Vanilla Smoked) here. Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

IPAs are the most popular family of beer styles in craft beer today, they aren't the first beers most people think of for pairing with craft chocolate. While IPAs can pair beautifully with craft chocolate, it's not an effortless pairing. IPAs present challenges that can lead to chocolate pairings with harsh, bitter, astringent, and/or clashing flavor qualities. In this bonus episode, we'll look at some common styles of IPA, discuss their sensory attributes, and discuss chocolates to seek out and chocolates to avoid when planning pairings with each.As mentioned in the episode, you can read more about hops here, or listen to a bonus episode explaining hops here.Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

There might not be a more loaded term in beer and chocolate than “craft.” What does it mean, who gets to use it, and who gets to decide who does or doesn't fall under its umbrella? Is craft about size and ownership? Is it about processes and ingredients? Is it some other ineffable quality? There is no perfect answer, and the parameters and stakes are different for both beer and chocolate, but it's a fascinating topic for discussion.In this episode I'm talking with Clay Gordon, one of the most respected names in the world of craft chocolate, to discuss the meaning of craft, how the term's usage and meaning differ in the beer and chocolate worlds, how tasting and judging have influenced beer and chocolate differently, and, toward the end, how we both approach chocolate pairings with beer and other beverages. You can learn more about Clay and his work at his website The Chocolate Life.You can watch/listen to his webcast Pod Save Chocolate here. I'll be a guest on the show on Tuesday, July 9, at 1 pm, so tune in or watch it later.You can purchase my book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together in the Bean to Barstool shop or on Amazon. Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Moksa Brewing in Rocklin, California (just outside Sacramento), is one of the country's most prolific and best producers of Pastry Stouts. These usually high alcohol and high gravity Stouts use ingredients like cacao, coffee, vanilla, and others to recreate the flavors of beloved desserts or create whole new flavor concepts. Moksa's Pastry Stouts are indulgent but precise.In this episode we talk with Moksa head brewer Cory Meyer about how he works with cacao, vanilla, and other adjunct ingredients, how he sources single origin examples, and how the Moksa team comes up with the concepts for these dessert beers.You can find out more about Moksa Brewing and the beers they've created here. Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

My new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together is out now, and you can get it from Bean to Barstool or Amazon! In honor of the release, we're talking today about how to host a beer and chocolate pairing at home. How do you plan it, how do you guide the event itself, and how do you give your friends a memorable evening with beer and chocolate? I've got you covered. Listen to this episode for all the information you need, and reach out if you have any questions!You can find recommendations for specific pairings to incorporate here.Want to hire me to run a pairing for you remotely? Get in touch. Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Saturday, May 25, is World Tarot Day, and this is the perfect time to learn more about what beer and Tarot have in common. Beer writer Courtney Iseman's zine Beer Tarot: Pulling Cards, Pouring Beer, and Discovering Self is a fantastic way to learn more about both, whether you're a beer fan who's curious about Tarot or vice versa. Listen to this quick interview Courtney to learn 3 things Tarot folks might be surprised to learn about craft beer, and 3 things beer lovers might be surprised to learn about the world of Tarot.Listen to the episode for a discount code to get 30% off the Beer Tarot zine in the Bean to Barstool shop!If you're in the New York City area, head to Beer Witch in Brooklyn on June 20 (Summer Solstice) for a Tarot event—have some great beer, get a Tarot reading, meet Courtney, and get a copy of her Beer Tarot zine!Check out David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Raven Hanna lives on the big island of Hawai'i, and her backyard is a picture of what most of us see when we hear the phrase tropical paradise. She has a PhD in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, and she loves science, but she also loves her senses, and the opportunity to immerse herself in the natural world. Her book One Cacao Tree: Backyard Cocoa, Tiny Fermentations, and Chocolate Making in the Tropics is an accessible, tangible guide to every step of cacao's journey, from growing to fermenting, grinding to tempering. In this episode, Raven and David discuss the book, what it's like to be surrounded by natural wonder, how cacao grows and tastes with other botanicals, using story to make flavors memorable, and so much more.You can learn more about Raven here, and purchase her book here.You can purchase David's new book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together here. Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Beer is fermented (usually) by one of two closely related species of yeast. In this quick bonus episode, we look at what how beer fermentation works, the differences between ale and lager, and how yeast and fermentation impact beer flavor. Enjoy this quick primer on beer fermentation!Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Today we're looking at a fascinating collaboration between a craft chocolate maker and a craft brewery. Eric Parkes at Somerville Chocolate is a tenant in Aeronaut's building, so he makes chocolate just a short distance from where brewmaster Mark Bowers and Director of Brewing Operations Filipe Garcia are brewing beer. This has allowed for an ongoing creative exchange between these worlds, yielding unique beers made with cacao and unique chocolate bars made with beer, brewing ingredients, and cacao and other ingredients that have been first used to make beer. The relationship has allowed for creative experimentation and mutual education. In this interview, Eric, Mark, Filipe, and I discuss the benefits of this arrangement and look in detail at the beers and chocolate bars that have come from it.You can learn more about Aeronaut Brewing here.You can learn more about Somerville Chocolate and order bars here.Aeronaut beers discussed in this episode include Coco Sutra and a barrel-aged Baltic Porter with cacao.Somerville bars discussed include Hops Dark Milk, Beer Fermented Dark, and two variations of a Beer Soaked bar made with the cacao from the above-mentioned Baltic Porter. Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Hops are the primary seasoning in beer, but what actually Are hops, and how are these used? In this quick bonus episode, we look at what hops are, how they're used, when they're added during the brewing process, and how they impact beer flavor. Enjoy this quick primer on hops!Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Nick Davis makes bean to bar chocolate at One One Cacao on the northeast coast of Jamaica. The cacao trade on the island has been tainted by a colonial past of slavery and oppression, but is now being reclaimed as farmers and makers take back agency. Nick shares his thoughts on the good and bad of inclusions, the challenges and opportunities in Jamaican cacao and chocolate, the historical and modern impacts of colonialism on both, and how making chocolate has allowed him to reclaim some of his family's story and power that had been taken by that colonial harm. I'm so grateful to Nick for his time and his insights, and I think you're going to enjoy this conversation as well.Mentioned in the episode are Grenada Chocolate, Dandelion Chocolate, Baiani Chocolate, and Bean to Bar Brasil, among others. Nick also mentions Sarah Bharath of Meridien Cacao, who has appeared on the show several times. You can listen to those conversations here, here, and here. Guest bio: Nick Davis started One One Cacao as a bean to bar then tree to bar chocolate company in 2016. Based in Jamaica, he moved from the U.K. (where his parents settled in the ‘60s) to the island as a journalist. He did a story on Mott Green and the legendary Grenada Chocolate Company and the rest is his-story.  Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Welcome to Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, where we spend about 5 minutes with some of our favorite people from craft beer and craft chocolate. In today's Bite Sized we hear from Arcelia Gallardo from Mission Chocolate in Sao Paulo, Brazil. When Arcelia first moved to Brazil and began making bean to bar chocolate, the quality of the Brazilian cacao that was available at the time was not great, but she was committed to working with it. After her friend at Chocolate Maya in Santa Barbara tasted one of Arcelia's two ingredient bars and suggested the cacao wasn't quite ready for that challenge, Arcelia decided to set her chocolate apart by using the natural bounty of Brazil, employing fruits and nuts that were unique to the new culture she found herself in. Here's Arcelia to talk about the steps that led to working with ingredients like cupuacu and baru nut.You can find out more about Mission Chocolate here order their bars through Bar & Cocoa here.You can listen to my full episode with Arcelia here.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Today we're talking with Brad Kintzer, the chocolate maker for TCHO Chocolate in Berkeley, California. In our conversation, we discuss TCHO's corporate ownership and how they source their cacao. We also talk about the flavor labs TCHO has established in many cacao growing regions to work with growers on a mutually-informed flavor lexicon for chocolate, and to improve quality. We spend about the last third of the interview talking about TCHO's relationship to craft beer, both through the cacao nibs they provide to hundreds of brewers through their relationship with BSG (Brewers Supply Group), a major ingredient provider, and through direct collaborations with breweries like Fieldwork and Faction. These collabs have resulted in some really unique chocolate beers, and most recently, a beer chocolate bar called Hoppy Hour made with Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook hops. Listen in as we talk with Brad Kintzer at TCHO.You can learn more about TCHO and purchase their bars here, and you can purchase the Hoppy Hour bar specifically here. Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Hops get a lot of buzz from beer lovers because of their expressive, fruity aromas and flavors, but malt is really the foundational ingredient of beer. You can technically brew beer without hops (though all commercial examples contain them), but you can't brew it without malted grain, and the different malt varieties offer a dazzling rainbow of potential colors, aromas, flavors, and textures for building a new beer. So what is malt, how is it made, how is it used in brewing, and what flavors and characteristics does it provide for beer? In this bonus episode, we talk all about the basics of malt.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Mushrooms aren't the first ingredient we usually think of for flavoring beer or chocolate, but many craft brewers and craft chocolate makers are using different species of mushrooms to create unique flavor experiences and, in some cases, provide unexpected health benefits. In today's episode, we talk all about using mushrooms in beer and chocolate.We talk with Marika Josephson of Scratch Brewing about brewing  with foraged mushrooms from the brewery's southern Illinois property, including Chanterelle, Turkey Tail, Black Trumpet, Oyster, Wood Ear, and others.  You can listen to previous interviews with her here and here, and order her book of brewing with foraged ingredients here.We talk with Sara Ratza of Ratza Chocolate in Tarpon Springs, Florida, about using mushrooms with health benefits in her bean to bar chocolate, including Reishi, Chaga, Lion's Mane, and others. You can listen to her previous episodes here, here, and here, and order her bars and her book on herbal hot chocolate here.And we talk with Jesse Bussard, former director of the Craft Maltsters Guild, a sustainable agriculture expert, and a grower and hunter of mushrooms, about what makes mushrooms so cool.You can listen to the episode with Oliver Holacek of Primo Chocolate in which we further discuss mushrooms, including the possible therapeutic applications for psilocybin mushrooms in chocolate here. Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Welcome to Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, where we spend about 5 minutes with some of our favorite people from craft beer and craft chocolate. In today's Bite Sized we hear from AJ Wentworth from Chocolate Conspiracy. AJ loves craft beer almost as much as he loves craft chocolate, and has collaborated with several breweries around the Salt Lake City area on beers and bars that blur the flavors lines between beer and chocolate, including bars made with Uinta Baba Black Lager, Level Crossing Soul Rex Doubla IPA, and Kiitos Coffee Cream Ale. We talk about his development process for those bars and working with the bold flavors of Double IPA.You can find out more about Chocolate Conspiracy and order their bar here.You can listen to my full episode with AJ here.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

In our first ever guest episode of Bean to Barstool, New Zealand beer and chocolate journalist Luke Owen Smith interviews Phoebe Preuss of Living Koko. They talk about Living Koko's relationship with Samoan cacao farmers and Savai'i Koko. They also discuss Penina, Living Koko's non-alcoholic beer brewed brewed in collaboration with Brewicolo and made with cacao and hopped with Citra, Amarillo, and Ekuanot hops. I interviewed Luke back in Episode 37 to talk about beer and chocolate in New Zealand, and he's also shown up on the last couple year end episodes to share his favorite beers and chocolates of 2022 and 2023. In the latter, one of his favorite beers of last year was Penina. I knew I wanted Living Koko on the show, and Luke seemed like the perfect person to make that happen. Enjoy!You can learn more about Luke Owen Smith here.You can learn more about Living Koko here.  Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Is chocolate really an aphrodisiac? In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized we hear from Michele Hauf, author of Lust and Chocolate, a romance novel themed around craft and bean to bar chocolate. With Valentine's Day right around the corner, spend 5 minutes this morning with Michele as she talks about creating the world of her novel about a plucky food reporter tasked with tracking down and reviewing the world's most coveted chocolate (and maybe, just maybe, falling in love along the way). She also talks about a thoughtful way in which chocolate really might be an aphrodisiac.You can listen to the entire extended interview with Michele here.You can order Lust and Chocolate from Amazon here.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Manoa Chocolate in Kailua, Hawaii, makes a variety of single origin bars with beans from farms all around Hawaii, and they also make a range of bars celebrating other crops popular on the islands, like coconut, mango, and passionfruit. Today though we're going to talk about Manoa's relationship with craft alcoholic drinks. Manoa makes popular bars made with both rum and whiskey made locally, and they run a wine bar that offers both casual pairing guidance and structured pairings. They're even working with a local brewery to make a beer made with cacao and then chocolate made with those nibs. All of this, of course, is super interesting to me here on Bean to Barstool, so I sat down recently with founder Dylan Butterbaugh to talk about rum, whiskey, wine, and beer as they relate to Manoa Chocolate.I can't wait to hear how that beer and chocolate turn out. If you're near Kailua, check out Manoa's wine bar, and please, order some beer. I promise it pairs beautifully with chocolate, and I've written an entire zine to prove it, which you can order on the bean to barstool shop.In the wake of the Maui wildfires in 2023, Manoa also created a special chocolate bar called Support for Maui to raise funds for relief efforts. That bar is still available, so be sure to check it out on manoachocolate.com.Thanks to Dylan for spending a few minutes with us today, and thanks to all of you for listening. I hope you enjoyed this bonus episode of Bean to Barstool.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized we hear from Chris Heier, co-founder and head brewer at Half Hitch Brewing in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada. At the height of the pandemic when most people were learning to make sourdough bread, Chris was learning how to make bean to bar chocolate. He's one-fourth Trinidadian, and he sourced cacao from Trinidad & Tobago through Meridian Cacao and made chocolate from it. He also made a chocolate Porter with the same cacao, and in this quick episode, Chris tells us about developing that beer and what he learned along the way. You can listen to my full interview with Chris here.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

I never come away from a conversation with cacao agronomist Sarah Bharath without learning something, and it's probably because Sarah never comes away from anything without learning. Her curiosity and excitement to learn drive the very important work she does working with cacao farmers to better understand the ecosystems of their cacao farms, how to work with the land and its resident microbes, and how to adapt fermentation practices to a changing environment and climate.  For Sarah, learning and teaching form a symbiotic relationship, each thriving best in the other's company. Sarah's been on the show twice before, and you can listen to those episodes here:Episode 55 with Chris Heier of Half-Hitch BrewingEpisode 59 on Cacao FermentationIn this episode, Sarah and I start out talking about cacao lavado, or unfermented cacao. It's a perfect example of how Sarah approaches topics: cacao Has to be fermented, right? Sure, except when it doesn't, and how do we know when that is unless we break an accepted rule and experiment, right? We then transition to talking more directly about the nature of learning and teaching. A few months ago I wrote a blog post on beantobarstool.com about the cycles of knowledge and confusion that accompany any dedicated effort to learn about something like beer or chocolate, particularly related to the organizational systems that have developed to make sense of both fields. Listen is as we talk about learning, unlearning, and teaching, and how each informs the others. Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized we hear from Nicole Hewat, the creative mind behind World Tree Chocolate. Nicole is an artist who has created a variety of artwork using cacao and coffee. She published a children's book about chocolate illustrated with cacao butter-based paintings on glass, and also sells landscape paintings made with paint made from cacao husks and coffee. Listen in as Nicole explains her process for each.You can learn more about World Tree Chocolate here.You can listen to my full interview with Nicole here.Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramTwitterFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Vanilla is a very familiar flavor for most of us. It's so ubiquitous, in fact, that the word is used as a pejorative for anything that is commonplace and mundane. But that's not being fair to this fascinating tropical spice, which can display a wide range of expressive aromas and flavors, and can be used in unique ways throughout world cuisine. In North America and Europe, vanilla is mostly associated with desserts, pastries, and other sweet treats, to the point that vanilla is often taken to be sweet on its own. That assumption is turned upside down in many other global food traditions however, in which vanilla can be used in savory or spicy dishes. Its heady but gentle profile allows it to work in support of a way variety of others flavors. And it's of interest to this podcast because vanilla is used so extensively in craft chocolate and, often, in craft beer as well. In this episode we explore the flavors and agronomy of vanilla. We talk with Dr. Alan Chambers from the University of Florida Tropical Research and Education Center. He works with tropical fruit crops to better support growers in southern Florida, and he quickly gained interest and expertise in the science and cultivation of vanilla after taking the position in 2016. He is now a foremost expert in all things vanilla.We also talk with Sean Buchan, the founder and head brewer at Denver's Cerebral Brewing. Sean works with a variety of single origin vanillas in his beers to highlight their variety. Here we talk about beers like Vanilla Rye Here Be Monsters and others that serve as liquid tributes to the amazing vanilla orchid.I hope this episode helps you appreciate how unique and varied vanilla really is. Far from being an avatar for homogeneity, vanilla is a fascinating and diverse spice with a wide range of expressions that reward attention. In this episode, Sean mentioned working with Ethereal to source cacao for some beers. We interviewed Michael Ervin and Marisa Allen from Ethereal back in Episode 08, which you can listen to it here. Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramTwitterFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Today's episode is a look back at my favorite beers and chocolates of 2023. You'll also hear from several friends and colleagues in the beer and chocolate worlds who share their own favorites from the last year as well.Guests include:Ruvani de Silva  (beer writer)Mandy Naglich (beer writer) - Listen to Mandy & I discuss her new book How to Taste.Estelle Tracy (chocolate educator) - Listen to Estelle & I discuss pairing chocolate with wine & beer.Emma Wargolet (beer writer)Caterina Gallo (chocolate expert)Luke Owen Smith (beer & chocolate writer) - Listen to Luke & I discuss the New Zealand beer & chocolate scenes.Shay Pal (chocolate expert) - Listen to Shay & I discuss one of our favorite chocolate bars.Amanda Camp (beer PR professional)Click each to read the full lists of my favorite beers, chocolates, & pairings from the past year.You can listen to previous years' annual favorites episodes here: 2022, 2021, 2020.The following articles & episodes are mentioned in this episode:Precious and Grace—Brouwerij Van Steenberge's Tripel Van De GarreEpisode 71: Adam Krantz of Monsoon ChocolateEpisode 30: Nostalgia ChocolateCacao Fruit Pulp in BeerYellow Springs & Urban Artifact Partner to Benefit Women's Brewing ScholarshipCheck out the Bean to Barstool shop to order zines, beer cards & prints, and issues of Final Gravity (and preorder Issue 03 now!)You can support us on Patreon here.Happy New Year! Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramTwitterFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Monsoon Chocolate is making bean to bar chocolate in the desert climate of Tucson, Arizona. It's not a region we might think of as a hotspot for craft chocolate, but as founder Adam Krantz explains, the southwest has a strong historical claim to cacao, and he wanted to honor that heritage while also pushing the boundaries of flavor with unique regional ingredients like chiltepin chilis or mesquite.I love talking with chocolate makers or brewers who are using ingredients and flavors from their region to color outside the lines of tradition, or perhaps more accurately, to erase and redraw those lines. Tradition is not a fixed thing. Norms change. We can expand the guidelines for tomorrow's makers and tasters by thinking creatively today.Listen in as we talk with Adam Krantz of Monsoon Chocolate.Partner businesses mentioned in the episode include Hamilton Distillers/Whiskey Del Bac, Desert Provisions,  Santa Ana Pueblo, Uncommon Cacao (listen to my interview with founder Emily Stone), and Meridian Cacao (listen to my interview with agronomist Sarah Bharath). Check out the Bean to Barstool shop here! Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramTwitterFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!

Max Gandy, perhaps better known in the craft chocolate world as Dame Cacao, was one of the first chocolate educators I started following on Instagram many years ago now when I was first getting into the scene. With her Dame Cacao website and various podcasts over the years, she's been a calm and knowledgeable voice within craft chocolate for nearly a decade now. She's also incredibly well traveled, and has spent time at many cacao origins. Having Max on the podcast is long overdue, so I reached out to her recently to rectify that wrong. In our conversation, we discussed her journey within craft chocolate, the way going to origin can change our perspectives on chocolate, and what has to happen for the general public to come around to craft chocolate. We also spent some time discussing cacao liquors and other alcoholic beverages made by farmers in different regions. You can learn more about Max and her work on her website Dame Cacao, and on Instagram & Facebook. You can learn more about sponsors at their websites:Beer ScholarFifth Street Brewpub Follow Bean to Barstool on social media!InstagramTwitterFacebookPinterestTikTokSign up for host David Nilsen's newsletter to get regular updates!