Bean to Barstool

"Language and food are the two vehicles that can help people understand each other better."
That's Liang Wang, co-founder and chocolate maker at KESSHŌ Chocolate in Austin, Texas. KESSHŌ makes craft chocolate bars inspired by Asian cuisine and ingredients. These bars open up worlds to the curious taster that might otherwise have remained closed.
I met Liang in person for the first time at the Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival in November, and was pleased sit down with her recently to talk about how these concepts are created, and how flavor can bridge cultural divides to speak to something deeper in our shared humanity, something more important now than ever. 
You can learn more about KESSHŌ Chocolate on their website, or follow them on Instagram. 
You can listen to my episode with Estelle Tracy about pairing with tea here, and our episode in which we paired KESSHŌ's Lamb Skewer bar 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 quick bonus episode, host David Nilsen talks with Jake Potter, founder and chocolate maker at Red Rock Chocolate in Utah. They talk about the upcoming inaugural Red Rock Region Chocolate and Fine Foods Festival in Hurricane, Utah, discussing vendors, classes, and other things to expect at the fest.
You can get all the details about the festival here, and follow the festival on Instagram 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!
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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 our first episode for 2026, we're looking at 9 lessons craft chocolate can learn from craft beer. Most of these, honestly, are lessons craft beer has learned (or, actually, is still learning) the hard way, and craft chocolate businesses and the industry as a whole can learn from beer's mistakes and missteps. I also discuss my stance on the use of AI in craft chocolate.
Episode timeline (approximate):
1:00 - Introduction
2:30 - Main topic
4:30 - Industry Code of Conduct
11:25 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
14:15 - Labor Practices
16:45 - Acquisitions (Check out my blog post about big chocolate taking notice of craft chocolate here)
21:45 - Prepare for Success
23:25 - Collaboration
27:30 - What Awards Do and Don't Mean
30:10 - Not Your Hobby (You can check out Not Your Hobby Marketing by Julie Rhodes)
32:15 - Band Together
33:55 - My Stance on Generative AI
36:00 - Recent News
38:25 - End
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 host David Nilsen recaps 2025 by looking at what made this year difficult and what made it worth it, and also shares his favorite beer experiences and craft chocolates from the year.
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 today's episode, We’re talking with Joanne Mumbey, a rising voice in beer education and beer and food pairing. Joanne is a Certified Cicerone and, newly as of this month, a certified pommelier, and she's the founder of BeyLoved Pairings, through which she leads curated beer and food pairings that go beyond the European cuisines that are typically found at beer dinners to incorporate food traditions from around the world, including Moroccan, Viet-Cajun, and various traditions from around the Caribbean, among others. 
Joanne and I talk about the spirit behind her pairings and the importance of storytelling. We also taste some craft chocolate and beer and chocolate pairings. 
You can learn more about Joanne at her website or on Instagram.
Guest:
Joanne Mumbey, founder of BeyLoved Pairings, is a Certified Cicerone®, Certified Pommelier, and Culinary Dietitian selected for Wine Enthusiast’s Future Forty Tastemakers for 2025. Originally from Uganda, Joanne's global upbringing exposed her to diverse international cuisines through her parents' work, sparking a lifelong curiosity for flavors from around the world. This passion led her to Johnson & Wales University's Culinary School, where she discovered her love for craft beer. However, she noticed that most beer and food pairings focused predominantly on European cuisine, overlooking the rich flavors of other culinary traditions. Driven by this gap in the industry, Joanne created BeyLoved Pairings to celebrate and showcase diverse flavors that are close to her heart but often underrepresented in traditional beer pairing experiences.

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.