Bean to Barstool

This month, London Coe of Peace on Fifth in Dayton, Ohio, will celebrate the tenth annual Global Black Chocolate Makers Month. It's an opportunity to promote the work of Black craft chocolate makers from outside the U.S., and introduce tasters here to makers and, in some case, ingredients they might not be familiar with. In this episode of Bean to Barstool, David Nilsen and London discuss the...

Bean to Barstool Redux: Vintage but still relevant conversations from the archives without all the extra narration. Just classic interviews from really cool people in craft chocolate, craft beer, and other food and beverage fields. In this edition, we hear from Kjartan Gíslason, a co-founder of Omnom Chocolate in Reykjavik, Iceland. Omnom is known not only for their delicious and creative bean to...

Ale Sharpton, a legendary beer writer from Atlanta celebrating his 30th year in the craft beer industry in 2026, is back with the latest version of his Piano Keys chocolate vanilla imperial stout collab, this time with Creature Comforts. The beer celebrates diversity in the brewing industry, both in terms of flavors and the people brewing and enjoying them. The beer uses Ecuadorian cacao nibs from...

" Language and food are the two vehicles that can help people understand each other better." That's Liang Wang, co-founder and chocolate maker at KESSHŌ Chocolate in Austin, Texas. KESSHŌ makes craft chocolate bars inspired by Asian cuisine and ingredients. These bars open up worlds to the curious taster that might otherwise have remained closed. I met Liang in person for the first...

In this quick bonus episode, host David Nilsen talks with Jake Potter, founder and chocolate maker at Red Rock Chocolate in Utah. They talk about the upcoming inaugural Red Rock Region Chocolate and Fine Foods Festival in Hurricane, Utah, discussing vendors, classes, and other things to expect at the fest. You can get all the details about the festival here , and follow the festival on Instagram h...

In our first episode for 2026, we're looking at 9 lessons craft chocolate can learn from craft beer. Most of these, honestly, are lessons craft beer has learned (or, actually, is still learning) the hard way, and craft chocolate businesses and the industry as a whole can learn from beer's mistakes and missteps. I also discuss my stance on the use of AI in craft chocolate. Episode timelin...

Bean to Barstool host David Nilsen recaps 2025 by looking at what made this year difficult and what made it worth it, and also shares his favorite beer experiences and craft chocolates from the year. 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! Instagram Facebook Pinter...

In today's episode, We’re talking with Joanne Mumbey, a rising voice in beer education and beer and food pairing. Joanne is a Certified Cicerone and, newly as of this month, a certified pommelier, and she's the founder of BeyLoved Pairings , through which she leads curated beer and food pairings that go beyond the European cuisines that are typically found at beer dinners to incorporate...

We just got back from the second annual Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival in Rushville, Indiana, where I gave several talks, Bean to Barstool had a table set up, we met a ton of great people, and of course came home with a bunch of great chocolate. Listen in as David recaps the festival, shares what makes it special, and talks about the bars he grabbed at the fest. Check out David's book Pairi...

Today’s guest uses craft chocolate as a way to introduce people to a subject they might otherwise feel intimidated by: chemistry. Professor Robyn Araiza teaches at California State University San Marcos. She leads a class called the Chemistry of Chocolate, which was first created by her colleague Dr. Jackie Trischman about a decade ago. The important thing about this class is that it’s not really...

In this bonus episode of Bean to Barstool, I reflect back on my recent trip to Mexico to judge at Copa Cerveza Mx and the great beer and chocolate I had while I was there, and discuss what I love about beer judging and what you should and shouldn't take away from beer award results.  The Copa Cerveza Mx awards list can be found here . I also briefly talked about the upcoming Midwest Craft Cho...

The second annual Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival will take place in the beautiful small town of Rushville, Indiana, on November 21-22. The MCCF was brought to reality by Dustin Cornett, the owner of Chocolat Cafe and organizer of the Craft Chocolat Challenge , along with a talented team and the wonderful folks of Rushville. For the second year, Bean to Barstool will have a booth in the vendor sp...

Today I'm sharing the second in my two part conversation with cacao agronomist Sarah Bharath about cacao farming and fermentation and some overlaps with beer.  You can listen to part one of the conversation here . Listen in as Sarah and I discuss these topics! Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together....

Cacao agronomist Sarah Bharath has become one of my closest friends in the craft chocolate world, and she's been on Bean to Barstool a couple times before. (You can listen to those conversations here and here .) Today I'm sharing the first of a two part conversation Sarah and I had recently about cacao farming and fermentation. Rather than getting technical (though there is certainly a l...

Angi at ChocolateSpiel takes visual appreciation of chocolate to a new level, using color to make each of her chocolate bars an edible piece of art. Her colorful bars are eye-catching, and they invite folks to try bean to bar chocolate who might not otherwise have taken the plunge. In this episode I talk with Angi about how and why she uses chocolate as a canvas for color, as well as pairing choco...

Kumi Arhin is doing something new in wine: he's bringing the flavors of his homeland in Ghana to American wine, offering a Riesling made with Lake Erie region grapes accented by Ghanaian ginger. His innovative Ofori Brothers Wine honors winemaking tradition but caters to members of the West African diaspora in the U.S., providing familiar flavors that speak of home.  The name Ofori Brothers h...

In this episode, chocolate pairing expert Estelle Tracy walks us through making various loose leaf teas and pairing them with craft chocolate. Along the way, she explains what tea is and the basics of different common types of good tea. Teas tasted and paired in this episode: Highland white tea, Jade oolong, Matcha, Hojicha, Genmaicha, and Honey black. You can learn more about Estelle at her 37 Ch...

Third Eye Brewing Company, with locations in Sharonville and Hamilton on the north side of Cincinnati, have won numerous awards at the Great American Beer Festival, World Beer Cup, and many other beer competitions. Led by brewmaster Kelly Montgomery, they've medaled in styles as diverse as Scotch Ale, Pumpkin Beer, and Milk Stout, but they've had particular success with chocolate beers....

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 Dorothy Neary, one of the founders and chocolate makers at NearyNogs Chocolate in Northern Ireland. In this clip, Dorothy talks about the influence of Irish music on much of her chocolate making and shares the stories behind a few specific...

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...

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 Thyme Strawberry...

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?...

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 wh...

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, bu...

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...