Welcome to Bean to Barstool's Media Relations for Craft Chocolate Makers series! As a full time freelance journalist in food and beverage, David Nilsen has communicated with thousands of breweries, distilleries, restaurants, chocolate makers, and other businesses, and he's seen ones who maximize their relationships with media members and outlets, and ones who are leaving opportunities on the table. Additionally, his wife and business partner, Melinda Guerra, is a freelance PR profession...

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 talk with Spencer Hyman, co-founder of Cocoa Runners. Spencer and I discuss the similarities between music and flavor, how understanding different types of music listeners informs his work at Cocoa Runners, and how we can learn from tasting choc...

Bit of a rant today: In this bonus episode, host David Nilsen talks about his concerns around the ecological and human harms of LLM AI technology, and why he doesn't think you should use it in promoting your craft chocolate business. 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 Pinterest Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regu...

Foundry Chocolate in New Zealand release only a single inclusion bar each year, but this annual release has become one of the hottest tickets in craft chocolate. Each fall (for the Northern Hemisphere—spring for NZ), they release a bar infused with a different whisky from artisan New Zealand distillery Thomson Whisky. Each year's release is a unique flavor concept, and co-founder David Herrick and his team spend time throughout the year perfecting each annual batch. In this nerdy, deep-...

Welcome to Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, where we spend about 5 minutes on a specific topic in craft beer, craft chocolate, or artisan drinks. Today we're talking with Liang Wang of Kessho Chocolate in Austin, Texas. Liang talks about Kessho’s line of tea-infused chocolate bars. Enjoy! You can listen to the entire episode this clip is from here. You can learn more about Kessho Chocolate here. Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and...

In today's episode, Tyler Cagwin of Nostalgia Chocolates gives advice for craft chocolate makers on selling cacao nibs and other ingredients to craft breweries. Tyler has sold cacao to many breweries in upstate New York and now in North Carolina, and it's become a substantial part of his business at Nostalgia. Here he walks us through things to consider in advance, how to approach prospective brewery partners, what he presents when he meets with them, how he builds these relationships, and ho...

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 talk with Em Sauter, creator of Pints & Panels and author of Hooray for Craft Beer. Em and I talk about the book, her creative process, why positivity is so important in the craft beer world, and she even tastes a few craft chocolate bars al...

In this bonus episode, host David Nilsen talks about the most versatile craft beer styles to have on hand for pairing with craft chocolate. He explains why each style is so versatile and recommends types of craft chocolate to pair with each, and provides some information on how to host a pairing at home. You can read David's blog post on this same topic here. You can learn more about how to host a successful beer and chocolate pairing at home in this bonus episode or this blog post. Check out...

We recently wrapped up our four-episode series called Collaboration for Chocolate Makers, which looked at different collaboration ideas for craft chocolate companies. Today, we’re looking at a case study of a specific kind of creative collaboration within the industry to pick apart how it worked, and how you can apply it at your own chocolate operation. Estelle Tracy of 37 Chocolates is a chocolate educator whose has been a guest on Bean to Barstool numerous times (you can find links to those...

Welcome to Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, where we spend about 5 minutes on a specific topic in craft beer, craft chocolate, or artisan drinks. Today we're talking with Jason Brewer and Zac Boehnke of Wandering Monsters Brewing in Cincinnati, Ohio. Jason and Zac share the most important thing they've learned when working with cacao and other flavor ingredients, and the storytelling that's possible with these beers. Enjoy! You can listen to the entire episode this clip is from here. Check out Da...