The inaugural Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival in Rushville, Indiana, will be a celebration of craft chocolate, cacao, and the farmers who grow and harvest it. In this preview, David Nilsen talks with organizer Barb Genuario and Leila Carvajal Erker of sponsor Cocoa Supply.

In this episode, David Nilsen talks with barista and mixologist Charlene Cabioch about using coffee and cacao in cocktails, what happens during barista competitions and mixology competitions, and the role of curiosity in professional development.

In this episode, David Nilsen talks with Monica Rogan of Goodnow Farms Chocolate about her collaborations with Boston Harbor Distillery and Downeast Cider, the compatibility of coffee and cacao, developing unique flavor concepts for inclusion bars, and she finds the right profile to let single origin beans sing.

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.

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.

In this episode David Nilsen talks 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 they each approach chocolate pairings with beer and other beverages.

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. 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.

How do you host a beer and pairing in your home? In this episode, Advanced Cicerone David Nilsen gives guidance on how to plan and guide a beer and chocolate pairing to give you and your friends a memorable evening.

Raven Hanna 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.

Eric Parkes at Somerville Chocolate is a tenant in Aeronaut Brewing'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.

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.

Today we’re talking with Brad Kintzer, the chocolate maker at TCHO Chocolate in Berkeley, California. In our conversation, we discuss TCHO's corporate ownership, how they source their cacao, nthe flavor labs TCHO has established in many cacao growing regions to work with growers on a mutually-informed flavor lexicon, and TCHO’s relationship to craft beer, both through the cacao nibs they provide to brewers through BSG (Brewers Supply Group), 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.

Mushrooms aren't the first ingredient we 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. In today's episode, we talk all about using mushrooms in beer and chocolate. Guests include Marika Josephson of Scratch Brewing, Sara Ratza of Ratza Chocolate, and mushroom grower Jesse Bussard.

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.

In this episode cacao agronomist Sarah Bharath talks about cacao lavado (unfermented cacao), using story to explain complicated systems, and the nature of learning and unlearning.

In this episode we explore one of the most common flavor ingredients in craft chocolate and craft beer: vanilla. We talk with Dr. Alan Chambers, an expert in the science of vanilla, and Sean Buchan, the founder of Cerebral Brewing, who uses single origin vanilla in many of his beers.

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. Listen in as we talk with Adam Krantz of Monsoon Chocolate.

Max Gandy, better known in the craft chocolate world as Dame Cacao, has 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. 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.

Firetree Chocolate in the UK has been making single origin dark chocolate from primarily Pacific island origins since launching in 2018. Their motto is Rich Volcanic Chocolate, referencing the volcanic soil of the islands where their cacao is grown. David Nilsen sat down recently with Firetree’s chocolate maker Martyn O’Dare to talk about Firetree and making chocolate that respects the nuances of each cacao origin and the farmers who grew it. Listen in as Martyn shares the story of Firetree.

Beer writer Beth Demmon has written a book called The Beer Lover’s Guide to Cider: American Ciders for Craft Beer Fans to Explore. The book explores the potentially overwhelming variety of the modern cider scene through the lens of beer, relating cider varieties to major flavor groupings from craft beer. In this interview, Beth and David Nilsen discuss her book, what cider and beer can learn from each other, and what it’s been like for both of them to explore other artisan industries parallel to our first love, beer. Listen in as we talk with author Beth Demmon.