Angi at ChocolateSpiel takes visual appreciation of chocolate to a new level, using color to make each of her chocolate bars an edible piece of art. Her colorful bars are eye-catching, and they invite folks to try bean to bar chocolate who might not otherwise have taken the plunge.

In this episode I talk with Angi about how and why she uses chocolate as a canvas for color, as well as pairing chocolate with beer, cider, wine, coffee, tea, and cocktails. 

Spiel means “game” or “play” in German, and ChocolateSpiel is all about having fun with chocolate! Founded by Angi—a chemical engineer turned chocolatier—she took one spark of inspiration during a factory tour (where chocolate machines reminded her of her old paint equipment) and turned it into a whimsical reality. From bean-to-bar creations to bonbons and nut spreads, every dairy-free treat is a colorful, playful twist on chocolate craft.

You can learn more about Chocolate Spiel and order their bars here.

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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Kumi Arhin is doing something new in wine: he's bringing the flavors of his homeland in Ghana to American wine, offering a Riesling made with Lake Erie region grapes accented by Ghanaian ginger. His innovative Ofori Brothers Wine honors winemaking tradition but caters to members of the West African diaspora in the U.S., providing familiar flavors that speak of home. 

The name Ofori Brothers harkens back to his family's background in cocoa production in Ghana in the early twentieth century. The Ofori brothers were quire successful in that trade, and he wanted to honor them with this new project. Kumi recently won Crafted For Action's Crafted Fellows microgrant competition, and he has more unique wines planned (a rosé with hibiscus is on the horizon).

In this interview, Kumi talks about how his family's legacy in cacao has impacted his current venture in wine, the significance of including a flavor ingredient from Ghana in a American wine and how that helps him reach new audiences, and the importance of storytelling along the way.

You can learn more about Ofori Brothers Wine and order bottles here.

Guest:

Kumi Arhin is a Ghanaian-American entrepreneur, engineer, and founder of Ofori Brothers Wine, a brand that redefines premium wine through the bold, expressive flavors of Africa. Inspired by his family’s legacy in Ghana’s early cocoa trade, Kumi blends heritage with innovation to craft culturally rooted, sensorially distinct wines. His debut release, a ginger-infused Riesling, launched at the beginning of 2025, quickly sold out, and recently won the top prize at the Crafted for Action pitch competition.

By day, Kumi works at the intersection of technology and culture as a Partner Engineer at YouTube Music. He previously founded a Y Combinator-backed edtech startup that reached over a million users globally. A Columbia University alum with a background in software engineering and product design, Kumi now channels his technical and entrepreneurial experience into building a wine label that connects diasporic legacy, flavor, and storytelling.

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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In this episode, chocolate pairing expert Estelle Tracy walks us through making various loose leaf teas and pairing them with craft chocolate. Along the way, she explains what tea is and the basics of different common types of good tea.

Teas tasted and paired in this episode: Highland white tea, Jade oolong, Matcha, Hojicha, Genmaicha, and Honey black.

You can learn more about Estelle at her 37 Chocolates website.

Estelle has been on Bean to Barstool a few times before! You can listen to us talk about pairing with craft chocolate with beer and wine here, and you can listen to our 100th episode in which we discuss pairing particularly challenging bars with beer and wine here.

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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Third Eye Brewing Company, with locations in Sharonville and Hamilton on the north side of Cincinnati, have won numerous awards at the Great American Beer Festival, World Beer Cup, and many other beer competitions. Led by brewmaster Kelly Montgomery, they've medaled in styles as diverse as Scotch Ale, Pumpkin Beer, and Milk Stout, but they've had particular success with chocolate beers. Their Double Astral Chocolate Imperial Milk Stout won gold as the best chocolate beer in the country at GABF in 2023.

In May 2025, I led an event with Kelly at Third Eye's Hamilton location called Chocolate, Beer, & Chocolate Beer. We led attendees through a tasting of Double Astral and Dark Aura (a chocolate peanut butter Imperial Stout), and a pairing of two of Third Eye's non-chocolate beers (details below) with two craft chocolates, before a tour of the brewery and the barrel cellar.

In this episode, Kelly and I talk about brewing with cacao, working with Maverick Chocolate and Violet Sky Chocolate, collaborating with River North Brewery in Denver, writing beer recipes with cacao or barrel-aging in mind, and pairing with craft chocolate. Listen in as one of the best brewers of adjunct stouts in the country shares his expertise!

You can learn more about Third Eye Brewing on their website, or follow them on Instagram.

Beers discussed in this episode include:
Double Astral—10.8% Imperial Stout brewed with Madagascar Bourbon vanilla, Violet Sky Haitian cacao nibs, an lactose.
Dark Aura—10.4% Imperial Stout brewed with Maverick Haitian cacao nibs and peanut butter.
Celestial Death—10.2% Black Barleywine brewed with TCHO Ghana cacao nibs, in collaboration with River North Brewery.

Pairings from the Chocolate, Beer, & Chocolate Beer event:
First Pairing:
Beer: Funky Fresh v.9—4% fruited sour with passionfruit, prickly pear, and pineapple.
Chocolate: Theo & Philo 65% Philippine Dark Chocolate with Green Mango and Salt.

Second Pairing:
Beer: Jelly Brain v.1—7.2% Milkshake IPA with pineapple and toasted coconut.
Chocolate: Definite 75% Dominican Republic Finca Elvesia Dark Chocolate with Dominican Rum.

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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Welcome to Bean to Barstool Bite Sized, where we spend about 5 minutes with some of our favorite people from craft beer and craft chocolate. Today we hear from Dorothy Neary, one of the founders and chocolate makers at NearyNogs Chocolate in Northern Ireland. In this clip, Dorothy talks about the influence of Irish music on much of her chocolate making and shares the stories behind a few specific examples. Enjoy!

You can learn more about NearyNogs Chocolate here.

You can listen to my entire interview with Dorothy here.

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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In this episode, we talk with Christopher Nobles of Piety & Desire Chocolate in New Orleans.

I visited New Orleans a very long time ago on a college road trip, and a lot of my images from that trip are still so sharp and clear. My impression of the city was that it didn’t feel like it could exist in the United States, like it existed in a parallel version of the US or in a foreign country. The buildings and the foliage and the cemeteries—it all felt like it was just draped in this elegant decay. I haven’t been back, sadly, but would love to revisit it now after having seen a lot more of the world and see how the city has changed, but more importantly, how I’ve changed and how my impressions of a place change with that.

Christopher Nobles is a lifelong New Orleans resident, and at Piety & Desire Chocolate he brings elegance and indulgence to his range of bars and confections. In true Big Easy style, many of them incorporate alcoholic beverages from some of the city’s new generation of producers. We talk about the flavors of New Orleans, its personality, and how it all makes its way into his chocolate.

You can learn more about Piety & Desire Chocolate and order their bars on their website, or follow them on Instagram.

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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In this episode, we talk with Greg & T from Front Porch Chocolate in Montana. They've crafted many of their excellent inclusion bars—Including Chai Rose, Fig & Cherry, and Strawberry Lemon—with beer pairing in mind, and here we talk with them about the concepts behind their bars and the beer pairings they've designed for each. 

The bars we discuss include:
Orange Thyme
Strawberry Lemon
Tiramisu
Fig & Cherry
Chai Rose

As Greg says during our interview, "You could experience a chocolate bar on its own, you could experience a beer on its own, but when you put them together you experience something completely new."

You can learn more about Front Porch Chocolate and order their bars on their website, and you can follow them on Instagram here.

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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For our 100th full length episode of Bean to Barstool, we're talking with an old friend and supporter of the pod, Estelle Tracy. Estelle leads chocolate tastings and pairings through her business, 37 Chocolates, and in this episode we're tasting and pairing the adventurous bars from her new curated collection. Which wines and beers do we pair with a bar inspired by Beijing lamb skewers? How about the always challenging 100% cacao bar, or a bar loaded with chili pepper? Listen in as we have a fun time coming up with pairings  for these unusual bars.

You can learn more about Estelle and her work on her website, and you can follow her on Instagram.

You can order the "Adventurous Palate" pairing box we taste and pair in the episode here.

You can listen to our previous episode on pairing with wine and beer here.

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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In this episode, we talk with Dorothy Neary of NearyNogs Chocolate in Northern Ireland. We discuss the importance of music in Irish culture and how it's influenced several of their chocolate bars, the use of distinctly Irish ingredients like gorse flower and seaweed, and the beautiful natural landscape around their factory that influences them creatively. We also discuss their use of Irish whiskey in several bars, and pairing with whiskey. 

You can learn more about NearyNogs on their website.

You can learn more about the Chocolate, Beer, and Chocolate Beer event I mentioned at Third Eye Brewing and purchase tickets here.

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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In this episode we talk with Michael Beans of Namesake Coffee in Dayton, Ohio. Michael and his wife and business partner, Jessica Beans, run Namesake with thought and intention, infusing their personalities into every aspect of their business. They want to remove the intimidation factor from good coffee, eliminating the snobbery and gatekeeping that can keep people from seeking out good coffee, but that doesn't mean they want to remove education and appreciation. Instead, they take coffee drinkers by the hand and lead them into a gracefully self-guided exploration of great coffee. Michael and I discuss how to make great coffee at home without fancy equipment, how he develops roast profiles for new bean origins, and how to taste coffee thoughtfully.

You can learn more about Namesake Coffee on their website, where you can order their beans or sign up for a coffee subscription. You can also follow them on Instagram here.

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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