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.

Fall beer styles like pumpkin ales, Märzen, Festbier, and even fresh hop and wet hop beers can pair great with craft chocolate, and today we’re going to talk about some of my favorites and recommendations to check out. Listen to this bonus episode to learn which bean to bar chocolate bars will work best with each seasonal style.

A photo of a beer in a glass is a moment captured.

Sometimes when I'm photographing beer in a taproom a bystander will sarcastically ask if I'm going to drink it. Yeah, I am. But I'm going to make sure I remember it first, and I’m sharing those memories with you now in this little zine.

Oliver Holecek co-founded Primo Chocolate—at the time known as Primo Botanica—in 2017 as a bean to bar chocolate company. The business has changed in process and focus over the years, and Primo is now heavily focused on incorporating mushrooms into chocolate as a way to promote the functional health benefits of these fungal friends. Listen in as Oliver talks about the background of his business, his passion for mushrooms, and the importance of centering Indigenous cultures when working with natural ingredients.

In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized we talk with Anna Seear of Ritual Chocolate in Utah. Ritual makes a line of bars inspired by the surrounding Utah wilderness, and one of these bars honors Utah's nickname as The Beehive State. Ritual uses wildflower honey from local Hollow Tree Honey for this delightful bar. Listen in as Anna talks about how honey gets used in this bar and the importance of preserving and supporting pollinators.

In this episode we talk with Leila Carvajal Erker about Cocoa Supply’s new cacao pulp products for brewers, as well as Sam Mosle, the head brewer at Wind River Brewing in Pinedale, Wyoming, who recently brewed a Blonde Ale with cacao pulp. We also discuss a similar beer brewed by Jon Naghski at Fifth Street Brewpub in Dayton, Ohio.

Mixologist and pastry chef Michael George recently won the prestigious Black Manhattan Contest put on by the Black Bourbon Society with two cocktails that tell amazing stories and push the boundaries of flavor. One of those drinks—named the Blackest in the Forest—was made using cacao and chocolate from Ritual Chocolate, and tells the story of Michael’s roots—where they’ve been, where they are now, and where they’re going. 

What types of craft chocolate should you pair with Belgian Witbier and Bavarian Hefeweizen, two both standard strength wheat ales with expressive fermentation flavors? Listen is an Advanced Cicerone David Nilsen, author of Pairing Beer & Chocolate, describes these styles and recommends craft chocolate bars to pair with them.

In this episode we talk with Kyle Bellinger of Osito Coffee who imports both coffee and cacao from Colombia to North America and Europe and Hans Westerink of Violet Sky Chocolate and Cloud Walking Coffee in South Bend, Indiana. I talked with Kyle and Hans recently about these amazing crops, what they have in common, and what the industries can learn from each other.

Mandy Naglich has written a book that explores how our senses interact with food and beverage, and how understanding our senses can help us better enjoy our favorite indulgences. How to Taste: A Guide to Discovering Flavor and Savoring Life (Citadel) combines science and whimsy to teach us more about our sensory world and bring our favorite flavors to life. Listen in as we talk with Mandy Naglich about her book How to Taste.

In this episode Leila Carvajal of Cocoa Supply tells us the story of her family’s company, a story that begins on a small cacao farm in Ecuador in the 1800s. She talks about their business and sourcing practices, the cacao farms they work with, and the products they offer for bean to bar chocolate makers and craft breweries.

Today we’re going to demystify beer by talking about beer ingredients, brewing processes, and frequently asked questions. This will hopefully make beer easy to understand for the chocolate lovers who listen to this show, or anyone who wants to better understand this beverage without being talked over, or talked down to. Some of this will sound complicated at first, but we’ll go through it step by step!

In today's episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized we talk with Emily Stone of Uncommon Cacao, one of the leading companies providing ethically and traceably sourced cacao for bean to bar chocolate makers. Emily talks about the process of beginning a relationship with a new partner at origin and her desire for transparency in cacao sourcing to be a two way street between farmers and makers.

In this episode David Nilsen talks with Arron Liu of Chocobien in Hong Kong. Chocobien is a bean to bar chocolate company that produces many truly unique bars that employ flavors and ingredients from other artisan food and beverage segments, including beer, whiskey, coffee, sake, tea, and more. Arron talks about the ideas behind these bars, the partnerships and processes that went into their development, and the satisfaction this curious and creative maker finds in achieving the flavors he could only hold in his imagination at the start of each experiment.

In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, we spend about 5 minutes with Hazel Lee, the creator of Taste with Colour: The Chocolate Tasting Flavor Map. The map allows people to use color to identify flavors, and Hazel talks about how this process can be beneficial to folks of all levels of tasting experience, and why no one should feel intimidated when sharing their own tasting impressions.

In this episode we take a deep dive into cacao fermentation with Sarah Bharath. Sarah works with cacao farmers in Trinidad & Tobago on behalf of Meridian Cacao, assisting them in improving their farming and post-harvest processes. Sarah is both a passionate advocate for cacao farmers and an inquisitive researcher whose curiosity drives her enthusiasm for always learning more about this fascinating crop. Today we talk all about the cacao fermentation process, how the variables of that process impact the flavors of chocolate, and how climate change is forcing farmers and scientists to constantly adapt to new realities.

In this episode of Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, we spend about 5 minutes with Natalie Suwanprakorn of Xoconat in Bangkok, Thailand. Nat makes her Up in Smoke bar by smoking cacao nibs over a Thai aromatic candle often used for Thai desserts. It’s a wonderfully evocative bar, and your reaction to it will largely depend on whether or not you have a cultural familiarity with the smoke of this candle. I didn’t, and it brought to mind bibliosmia, the smell of old books - quite a comforting and intriguing quality for this book lover. Listen in as Nat shares the story of this bar, how it was made, and its significance for her as a Thai chocolate maker.

In this episode we talk with Estelle Tracy. Estelle leads wine and chocolate pairings through her business 37 Chocolates. In this conversation, Estelle and I talk about the differences and similarities between pairing craft chocolate with wine and beer, how she got started with chocolate and wine, and what she’s learned along the way.

Bean to Barstool host & Final Gravity co-editor David Nilsen shares details about the forthcoming Final Gravity zine—a new quarterly print beer publication—as well as the launch of the Final Gravity Patreon to support it! Listen in to get all the exciting details about this project and learn how you can be involved.