Cool Beans - September 9, 2024
Here are the latest exciting bars we’ve tracked down, with a focus on bars using spirits and other hard beverages. Let us know when you see new ones and we’ll include them!
Goodnow Farms Unfiltered Hard Cider—New York’s Goodnow recently worked with Downeast Cider in Boston on a 70% chocolate bar made with Overboard, the cidery’s 8% unfiltered cider. The bar is made with Zorzal cacao that was steeped in the cider before being dried out and turned into chocolate. Goodnow will be doing a pop-up tasting at the Downeast taproom on September 19 if you’re in the area! Goodnow Farms co-founder Monica Rogan will be on the Bean to Barstool podcast to talk about this bar and others later this month!
TCHO Napa Noir—The Berkeley chocolate maker has partnered with Clif Family Winery on a 64% salted cabernet dark chocolate with barrel-aged cacao nibs. TCHO chocolate maker Brad Kintzer says he’s wanted to work with wine barrel-aged cacao for some time, and he and Clif wine maker Laura Barrett allowed them to dig into the nuances of both the wine and the chocolate. You can hear Brad talk about TCHO and their previous Hoppy Hour bar back in Episode 77 of Bean to Barstool.
Fossa Chocolate’s new tea bars—No one loves tea chocolates quite like Singapore’s Fossa, and they’ve got two new tea bars out for autumn. Oriental Beauty is made with a heavily-oxidized, non-roasted oolong, while Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin is made with a Taiwanese roasted oolong.
River-Sea Peach IPA—This North Carolina maker made a 60% dark milk bar with Colorado Palisade peaches an Chinook hop extract and oil. There are only a few left!
Ethereal Confections single origin nibs—Ethereal provides cacao nibs for numerous breweries and distilleries, and recently shared their available origins: Ecuador, Ghana, Haiti, Uganda, Philippines, Peru, and Tanzania. Some of these have limited or delayed availability, so reach out to talk with them about what’s right for your next beer or spirit. You can hear from Ethereal way back in Episode 08 (probably time to have them on again!)