Bean to Barstool

One of my favorite memories of my trip to Quito, Ecuador, in 2024 was a night spent at Bandido Brewing’s cozy taproom, just a short walk from the historic district. Founder Nathan Keffer played host and invited some off the city’s other brewers as we opened bottles and talked into the night. 

Nathan and I have stayed friends since then, and he recently reached out to tell me about a new beer Bandido has developed using multiple different forms of cacao, not just the nibs or husks. We sat down recently to talk all about his new cacao beer. Along the way, we discussed the story behind Bandido, the craft beer scene in Ecuador, and how the use of local ingredients can tie a beer to where it was brewed.

You can follow Bandido Brewing on Instagram here.

You can learn more about Somos here.

You can read the entirety of the article from which the prologue of this episode was taken here.

You can read the blog post mentioned about Kitu Chocolate 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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Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

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 Nick Davis of One One Cacao in Jamaica. Nick shares his thoughts on the good and bad of inclusions, the challenges and opportunities in Jamaican cacao and chocolate, the historical and modern impacts of colonialism on both, and how making chocolate has allowed him to reclaim some of his family’s story and power that had been taken by that colonial harm. I’m so grateful to Nick for his time and his insights, and I think you’re going to enjoy this conversation as well.

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!
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Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

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 Max Gandy, perhaps better known in the craft chocolate world as Dame Cacao. Max was one of the first chocolate educators I started following on Instagram many years ago now when I was first getting into the scene. With her Dame Cacao website and various podcasts over the years, she’s been a calm and knowledgeable voice within craft chocolate for nearly a decade now. She’s also incredibly well traveled, and has spent time at many cacao origins. 

In our conversation, we discussed her journey within craft chocolate, the way going to origin can change our perspectives on chocolate, and what has to happen for the general public to come around to craft chocolate. We also spent some time discussing cacao liquors and other alcoholic beverages made by farmers in different regions.

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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Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

In this short bonus episode of Bean to Barstool, we'll hear from Kelly Campos of Dark Matter Coffee and Sleep Walk Chocolate in Chicago. Kelly talks all about the barrel-aged beer chocolate bars Sleep Walk has made in collaboration with breweries like Half Acre and Revolution. Enjoy!

You can learn more about Sleep Walk Chocolate here.

You can listen to Kelly discuss Sleep Walk's mezcal-infused bar in this episode.

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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Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

I just got back from a weekend in Seattle for the Northwest Chocolate Festival, and want to share my thoughts from the experience. Here are my takeaways from the Unconference, the trends on the festival floor, my favorite experiences in this beautiful city, and the thoughts I was left with as I returned from the show. If you attended NW Chocolate this year, I'd love to hear your own takeaways!

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!
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Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

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 Martyn O'Dare of Firetree Chocolate in the UK. Firetree has been making single origin dark chocolate from primarily Pacific island origins since launching in 2018, and they’re among my favorite single origin makers. As much as I love their complex bars, I also love their beautiful packaging, with its swirling colors and gold etching. Their motto is Rich Volcanic Chocolate, referencing the volcanic soil of the islands where their cacao is grown.

Martyn O’Dare talks about making chocolate that respects the nuances of each cacao origin and the farmers who grew it, and about how their elegant packaging helps to tell those stories. 

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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Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

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 shares with us the thought and intention behind their elegant packaging design. Enjoy!

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

You can learn more about Foundry Chocolate 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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Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

Here's the entire Collaboration for Chocolate Makers series in one place! 

While craft chocolate makers periodically partner with breweries and coffee roasters, examples of collaboration in the industry remain pretty limited. That's a shame, because collaboration offers amazing opportunity to growing your chocolate business. In this supercut of the Collaboration series from early 2026, we walk through different types of possible collaborations and how craft chocolate makers should go about them.

We discuss:
- Why you should consider collaborating with other businesses
- Things to consider before beginning a collaboration
- Ideas for collaborating with alcoholic beverage producers
- Ideas for collaborating with other craft chocolate makers
- Creative, unexpected collaboration ideas
- Estelle Tracy's insights on her own collaboration experience

Collaboration for Chocolate Makers series:

Podcast Episodes
Why Do It, and General Considerations
Collaborating with Beverage Alcohol Producers
Collaborating with Other Craft Chocolate Makers
Creative Collaborations to Consider
Collaboration Case Study: Estelle Tracy on working with Craft Chocolate Makers

Blog Posts
Why It’s Worth It, and Things To Consider
Collaborating with Beverage Alcohol Producers, and Drinks-Based Collabs
Chocolate-Based Collabs with Beverage Alcohol Producers
Collaborating with Other Craft Chocolate Makers
Creative Collaborations to Consider
Collaboration Case Study: Estelle Tracy on working with Craft Chocolate Makers

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 regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

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 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.

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!
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Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

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 Caroline Houghton of Carobeans in St. Paul, Minnesota. Caroline talks about how her community came together to protect their neighbors during the immigration raids earlier this year, and the ICE Melter bar she creates to raise awareness and funds for immigrant justice. Enjoy!

You can learn more about Carobeans here, and find the ICE Melter bar here.

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 regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.