Bean to Barstool

Here's the entire Media Relations for Craft Chocolate Makers series in one place! 

Media Relations is a critical component of your marketing strategy as a small business, but it often gets overlooked. Maybe you don't feel like you have the time, or maybe working with the media seems intimidating. Leveraging media relationships is an important and worthwhile way to connect with your existing and prospective audience, and it doesn't have to be difficult.

In this series, David Nilsen and Melinda Guerra share what they've learned from opposite sides of the relationship as a journalist (David) a...

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 c...

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 be...

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 vo...

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.

Follow Bean...

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...

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...

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.

Follow...

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 c...

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 w...

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...

It’s appropriate we call alcoholic drinks spirits. Fermented beverages carry with them the traditions of their homelands and the essence of their agricultural ingredients, and they’ve been used for millennia to both grieve and celebrate, to ease tensions, to bond relationships, to preserve the bounty of a harvest, to mark our hopes for the same next year.

Bean to Barstool has been covering the intersections of craft chocolate with artisan drinks for about six years now. We’ve looked at countless chocolate makers who have used alcoholic drinks to infuse flavor into their bars. By far th...

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 Arcelia Gallardo of Mission Chocolate in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Arcelia has taken a long and winding road to making world class chocolate in Brazil, and as she’ll explain, her own journey is interwoven with the growth of the cacao industry and bean to bar chocolate scene in Brazil over the last decade. Arcelia also talks ab...

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 Allo Gilinsky and Rachek Benkowski of the Craft Connections Beverage Education Summit. Allo and Rachel share with us some thoughts about how to make beer education approachable for consumers. Enjoy!

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

You can learn more about Craft Connections here.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft...

It's time for the final episode in our Media series!

In this episode, David and Melinda talk through a range of topics to conclude the Media Relations for Craft Chocolate Makers series. They discuss:
- Common pitfalls companies make in media relations (or let hold them back from even starting)
- Crisis communications - what it means, and things to think about now before you need to later
- What to do after you get media coverage
- Action items to get you started on your media relations path. 

M...

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 tells us the story behind 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 Chocolate here.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

Follow Bean...

Once you've established a line of communication with a media member, how do you maintain that relationship and communicate new story ideas to them? That's what we're going to talk about in this new episode in Bean to Barstool's Media Relations for Craft Chocolate Makers series!

In part 5 today, food and beverage journalist David Nilsen talks how to maintain communication with members of the media, how to communicate story ideas in an informal but helpful way, how stories come together on the freelance journalism side, and much more.

David's been a full time...

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 Beverage Education Summit taking place in early 2027, an event that will bring together craft beer professionals for conversations and presentations around how we can better provide useful, approachable education for both staff and co...

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 importantly, the inverse of all those: when not to send them, what not to include, etc. 

David's be...

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 interview Phoebe at Living Koko. We also recently had as a guest one of the chocolate makers who has signed on with A...

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 chocolate companies of any size identify their stories, communicate them to media members and outlets, gain new customers, and keep the ones you have curiou...

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 Chocolate here.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and...

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 chocolate companies of any size identify their stories, communicate them to media members and outlets, gain new customers, and keep the ones you have curiou...

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 part of a movement connecting thousands across the cacao world in a shared, values-driven experience. The founders and organizers see the summit as an invitation to see th...

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 professional helping brands tell their stories and connect with media. Between the two of them, they’ll be sharing what we’ve learned over their careers to he...

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 chocolate with other people of different backgrounds.

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing...

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 regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for p...

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-dive conversation, David Herrick and host David Nilsen discuss the planning stages for each bar, walk through each ann...

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 Craft Chocolate Together.

Follow Bean to Barstool on...

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 how he schedules cacao roasting for his brewery customers in his regular chocolate production schedule.

This...

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 along the way. Enjoy!

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A...

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 David's book...

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 episodes below). She reached out to me a few weeks back to let me know ab...

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 David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer...

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 storytelling and visibility.

I fully expect I’ve missed more ideas than I’ve come up with here, so please share others as you think of them!

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’s required is an open and curious mind and a piece of chocolate. Join us for a conversation with Sanna Forslund about traveling through our senses...

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 shares the meaning behind the name Kessho, as well as the thought that goes into their wrapper artwork and mold design. Enjoy!

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

Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.

Follow Bean...

This is the third in a four-part bonus series called Collaborations for Chocolate Makers. In the series, we'll walk through different types of possible collaborations and how craft chocolate makers should go about them.

Today we’re going to talk about an opportunity for collaboration that I think is wildly underutilized in craft chocolate: Craft chocolate makers collaborating on products with other craft chocolate makers. 

In this episode, we talk about the untapped potential of collaborations within craft chocolate. We discuss the unique advantages of these collabs, examples of how these chocolate collaborations can work, how...

My friends Scott Fielder & Chris Crowe have spent the past few years publicly documenting their quest to pass the Master Cicerone exam. In late 2025, Scott Fielder became just the 29th Master Cicerone in the world. Chris, his best friend and partner in this process, came close to doing the same, and is more determined than ever to pass the exam in 2026. 

I sat down with Scott and Chris recently to talk about how their pursuit of knowledge through these certifications has impacted their experience and enjoyment of beer. We also talk about the vulnerability of sharing their e...

Elmer Pineda and his family grow cacao and make tree to bar chocolate in the mountains of Honduras. Taking their company name from the Volcanic crater lake where their chocolate factory is located, Yojoa Chocolate makes classic two-ingredient bars, as well as a range of inclusion bars that celebrate the agricultural bounty of their corner of the world. When I connected with Elmer over Zoom recently, a tropical rain storm was drenching his property, and you might even be able to hear it in our conversation. 

In this interview we talk about the background of Yojoa Chocolate a...