Bean to Barstool

Mike King of Encore Coffee and Chocolate

Mike King at Encore Coffee and Chocolate in Kansas City is currently making some of the best coffee-infused craft chocolate bars on the market. I’ve had the chance to talk with Mike at the Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival the past couple years, and we were finally able to connect for a conversation for Bean to Barstool a couple weeks ago. We talk all about the overlap between these worlds, what he’s learned about each from the other, how sourcing and roasting and flavor formulation differs between them, and how he creates the delicious coffee infused bars like Cafe Mocha, Vanilla Latte, and Caramel Macchiato in his Coffee House Series. You can learn more about Encore at their website and Instagram.You can find previous coffee-themed episodes here:Osito Coffee, Violet Sky Chocolate, and Cloud Walking CoffeeOnyx CoffeeNamesake Coffee 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!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

Collaboration for Chocolate Makers Part 1: Why Do It, and General Considerations

Back in the first episode of 2026, I shares some things I think craft chocolate can learn from craft beer. One of those lessons (and, upon reflection, one of the only positive ones) was to collaborate expansively. While craft chocolate makers periodically partner with breweries and coffee roasters, the avenues for collaboration in the industry remain pretty limited. That's a shame, because collaboration offers amazing opportunity to growing your chocolate business.This is the first 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.In this first episode, we're stepping back and looking at collaboration more generally: What are the benefits, why should you do it, and what are considerations you should think about before beginning a partnership?If you have any thoughts, questions, or suggestions from this episode, please feel free to reach out! 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!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

Brewing Pastry Stouts Thoughtfully with Wandering Monsters Brewing

Today we're talking with Jason Brewer and Zac Boehnke of Wandering Monsters Brewing in Cincinnati, Ohio. While they brew a wide variety of beers well, they're best known for excellent adjunct stouts like Viator Obscura: Triple Chocolate, which has medaled at both Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup.In this episode, Jason and Zac talk about how they approach brewing with cacao nibs, vanilla, and other ingredients, how their high concept adjunct stouts come together, where they source their cacao, and why beers of this type are worth taking seriously and approaching thoughtfully. You can check out the Wandering Monsters site here, or follow them on Instagram.You can listen to previous episodes mentioned in this episode here: Ethereal Confections, Somerville Chocolate, Front Porch Chocolate, Third Eye Brewing.You can check out the events mentioned in the episode here: Full Circle Brewgarden, Belgian-Style Ales.Interview timeline:2:25 - How beer recipes are developed with adjuncts and barrels in mind4:50 - Viator Obscura: Triple Chocolate6:35 - Cacao husks7:25 - Cacao origin selection10:15 - Banana Caboose14:25 - Storytelling with adjunct stouts15:50 - Brownie Stout, other beers17:15 - Vanilla18:45 - Wandering Monsters branding22:30 - Marketing adjunct stouts24:15 - Their favorite of their own adjunct stouts27:15 - Advice for other brewers on working with cacao and other adjuncts29:00 - Brewing pastry stouts thoughtfully33:20 - End of interview 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!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

Redux: Uncommon Cacao

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 hear from Emily Stone, founder of Uncommon Cacao, who supplies cacao for hundreds of bean to bar chocolate makers and, indirectly through their bean to bar partners, quite a few craft breweries as well. We talk with Emily about those origins, what led her to start Uncommon, and the importance of full, two-way transparency in the cacao supply chain.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!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.

Bite Sized: Pairing Beer and Chocolate

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 looking back at one of the first deep dives I ever did on pairing beer and chocolate for Bean to Barstool. 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 to Barstool on social media!InstagramFacebookPinterestSign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.