Bean to Barstool

Craft beverage education is one of my passions, and I really believe that the more people learn about their favorite drinks, the more they’re able to enjoy them. Allo Gilinsky and Rachel Benkowski definitely agree. I first met this pair at last summer’s Crafted For Action conference in Atlanta, where they were co-presenting an education tasting. Since then, they’re announced the inaugural Craft Connections Beverag...

Does writing a press release sound scary and overwhelming? Who do you send it to? What do you include? Which news is important enough to deserve one?

Welcome to Bean to Barstool's Media Relations for Craft Chocolate Makers series!

In part 4 today, journalist David Nilsen and public relations pro Melinda Guerra  talk all about press releases. What they are, when to send them, to whom to send them, what to include, and, just as im...

Luke Owen Smith in New Zealand has launched A Bar Apart, an organization with a corresponding emblem that certifies the quality and practices of New Zealand based craft chocolate makers. In today's episode, Luke shares what A Bar Apart is, what it means, and what he hopes it will accomplish.

We’ve had Luke on the show before to talk about the craft chocolate and craft beer scenes in New Zealand, and he guest-hosted to intervie...

Welcome to Bean to Barstool's Media Relations for Craft Chocolate Makers series!

I’ve been a full time food and beverage journalist for about a decade now, and my wife and business partner, Melinda Guerra, has been a freelance PR professional helping brands tell their stories and connect with media for even longer than that, and in this series, we’ll be sharing what we’ve learned over our careers to help craft choc...

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 David Herrick of Foundry Chocolate in New Zealand. David takes us behind the scenes of the R&D process for developing their esteemed Whisky bars released annually. Enjoy!

You can listen to the entire episode this clip is from here.

You can learn more about Foundry C...

Welcome to Bean to Barstool's Media Relations for Craft Chocolate Makers series!

I’ve been a full time food and beverage journalist for about a decade now, and my wife and business partner, Melinda Guerra, has been a freelance PR professional helping brands tell their stories and connect with media for even longer than that, and in this series, we’ll be sharing what we’ve learned over our careers to help craft choc...

In this episode, host David Nilsen talks with Ava J Holmes and Fiorella Richter, the founders of Women of Cacao, a global, bilingual network uniting professionals across sectors within cacao and craft chocolate: from genetics and farming to chocolate making and science. 

The work of Women of Cacao culminates each year in the Women of Cacao Summit, a hybrid virtual and in-person global gathering. At the summit, you can  be ...

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 b...

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 ...

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
Fac...

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 througho...

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 &...

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...

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 ...

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 pairin...

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 gu...

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 list...

This is the fourth and final part in a series called Collaboration for Chocolate Makers. In the series, we walk through different types of possible collaborations and how craft chocolate makers should go about them.

In this episode, we talk about ideas for creative, outside-the-box collaborations—Partnerships with businesses or community entities that you might not think about as options but can really lead to some cool storyt...

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, is a chocolate educator who uses chocolate as a way to travel the world, recalling places she’s been and imagining ones she hasn’t, and helping others to do the same. All that...