In today's episode, we talk with Lucia Carrillo—founder and head brewer at Cervecería Itañeñe in Mexico City, a very small brewery that’s big on flavor, often using ingredients from Mexican culinary traditions, or even endemic to the country—and her partner Rodrigo Romo, who also brews at Itañeñe and works at Tout Chocolat making craft chocolate bars and bon bons, pastries, and coffee at its cafes in the Mexico City area. Rodrigo and Lucia have worked together on beers and chocolates that use similar ingredients—including flavors and ingredients endemic to Mexican ecology or used in Mexican culinary traditions—as well as beers using chocolate or its ingredients, or chocolates using beer or its ingredients, to blur the lines between these worlds.
I first tried one of Itañeñe’s beers at the Great Mexican Beer Fiesta at Cervecería Colorado in Denver, several years ago. The one-day fest takes place during the Great American Beer Festival at the same time, and it’s my favorite part of GABF week. Cervecería Colorado and Itañeñe had collaborated on a beer brewed with rosita de cacao, a flower unrelated to theobroma cacao, but sharing some cocoa-like flavors.
This past fall I had the privilege of being a judge at Copa Cerveza Mexico, and finally got to meet Lucia and Rodrigo. Later in the trip, I walked to Tout’s beautiful Hippodrome location and sat at an outdoor cafe table enjoying a flat white and several of their excellent bon bons.
I had the chance to talk with Lucia and Rodrigo recently about their pursuit of unique flavors, their chocolate and beer collaborations, and what makes Mexican beer and chocolate unique and exciting. At the outset, I asked how they got involved in these worlds in the first place.
Guests:
Lucia Carrillo—Food engineer, beer judge, sommelier, sensory panel judge, and Itañeñe brewer with more than 50 beer medals.
Rodrigo Romo—Itañeñe brewer, pastry chef, winner of the Sweet Arts competition, chocolatier, and winner of more than 30 beer medals.
Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.
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