Loon Chocolate Founder Has a Background in Craft Beer
By David Nilsen
“Loons are kind of a badass bird, and they’ve made a comeback in the area. I thought that was the right symbol for us,” says Scott Watson, founder of Loon Chocolate in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Watson got into chocolate after watching a food documentary that featured a coffee shop in Vietnam. In the background of one shot, they were roasting cacao, and he realized he had no idea how chocolate was made. His journey of discovery eventually led him to found bean to bar chocolate company Loon Chocolate.
Watson got his start in artisan food back in the 1990s when he was the head brewer at the now-closed Nutfield Brewing in New Hampshire. He sees a lot of similarities between the craft beer world and bean to bar chocolate. He loves how both beer and chocolate involve bringing together multiple raw ingredients into a finished product.
“For me, one of the attractions to brewing and chocolate making is I really enjoy the multiple stages to get to that final development,” says Watson. “You see a ripened cacao pod sliced open and you see those fresh beans, unfermented, and to say this right here is going to be transformed into a chocolate bar. Or to say we’re going to go from high quality malted barley and whole leaf hops and be able to pour this out of a draft 10 to 14 days later.”
Watson works with Uncommon Cacao to source ethical cacao beans from around the world, with origins like Bolivia, PISA Haiti, and Semuliki Forest Uganda proving popular. Some of Loon’s bestsellers though are inclusion bars, including The Ghost and the Sea, with features ghost peppers and Maine sea salt, and Caribbean Kiss, made with shaved coconut and ginger.
One of Loon’s unexpected inclusion bar is Rainbow Crunch, which is made with fruity breakfast cereal. The bar actually provides one of Watson’s favorite beer and chocolate pairings. He recommends pairing this nostalgic bar with a Milk Stout. Milk Stouts are made with lactose, which lends an impression of sweetness and creaminess, and in combination with the bar gives the impression of Saturday morning cereal.
“At least in my mind you don’t have to be very formal to have a pairing,” he says. “You can have fun pairings too.”
While Scott doesn’t miss the grueling work of brewing beer, he does miss some of the rich sensory experiences involved in brewing.
“There’s nothing more romantic about brewing than sitting in the brewhouse at 5 a.m. on a snowy morning and mashing in or adding the first addition of hops,” he recalls. He finds the satisfaction now from steps in the chocolate making process, including adding fresh cacao nibs to the grinder.
“That real raw aroma is something that makes me smile every time. Watching that spin can be as mesmerizing as your favorite campfire,” he reflects. “You use all your senses in brewing and chocolate making.”
Listen to my interview with Scott from Loon Chocolate below to learn more: