Bean to Barstool – Details, episodes & analysis

Few names in craft chocolate carry as much esteem as Goodnow Farms. Tom and Monica Rogan founded the company in Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 2015, and they cover pretty much the full spectrum of what bean to bar chocolate is all about in their portfolio of chocolate bars, including elegant single origin bars, classic inclusion bars with coffee, nuts, or fruit, unusual inclusions like caramelized onions or green Sichuan peppers, and bars made in collaboration with craft alcohol producers.

In this episode, Monica and host David Nilsen talk about those collaborations with distilleries and cideries, the compatibility of coffee and cacao, developing unique flavor concepts, and how Tom and Monica find the right profile to let single origin beans sing.

Specific bars discussed in this episode using alcohol include Lawley's Rum, Putnam Rye Whiskey, and Demon Seed made in collaboration with Boston Harbor Distillery, and Unfiltered Hard Cider made in collaboration with Downeast Cider.

Other bars discussed include Caramelized Onion, Herbaceous Green Sichuan Pepper, Las Palomas Coffee, Café con Leche, El Carmen with Coffee Crunch, and a variety of single origin bars.

You can learn more about Goodnow Farms and order their bars at goodnowfarms.com.

Guest: Monica Rogan is the CEO, co-founder, and chocolate maker at Goodnow Farms Chocolate. Her passion for creating exceptional bean-to-bar, single origin chocolate has made her a leader in the craft chocolate industry.

Monica has spent years developing strong, direct relationships with cacao farmers and producers throughout Latin America, ensuring mutually beneficial relationships and access to consistently high-quality beans. Transparency, traceability, and an emphasis on fine flavor define her approach to chocolate.

Her chocolate has received seven consecutive Good Food Awards, hundreds of international fine flavor awards and a spot on Food & Wine’s list of “The Best Chocolate in America.”

Monica has a background in construction and real estate development, a BS from James Madison University and an MBA from Pepperdine University. While not making chocolate, Monica enjoys traveling and exploring, edible landscaping, refinishing old furniture and doing science experiments with her children and husband.

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 Raven Hanna, a molecular biochemist and biophysicist and the author of the book One Cacao Tree: Backyard Cocoa, Tiny Fermentations, and Chocolate Making in the Tropics. In this clip, Raven talks about tasting everything we can to expand our flavor vocabularies, and about how creating stories around tasting experiences can help us remember those flavors. Enjoy!

You can learn more about Raven here, and purchase her book here.

You can listen to my entire interview with Raven 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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There might not be a more loaded term in beer and chocolate than “craft.” What does it mean, who gets to use it, and who gets to decide who does or doesn’t fall under its umbrella? Is craft about size and ownership? Is it about processes and ingredients? Is it some other ineffable quality? There is no perfect answer, and the parameters and stakes are different for both beer and chocolate, but it’s a fascinating topic for discussion.

In this episode I’m talking with Clay Gordon, one of the most respected names in the world of craft chocolate, to discuss the meaning of craft, how the term’s usage and meaning differ in the beer and chocolate worlds, how tasting and judging have influenced beer and chocolate differently, and, toward the end, how we both approach chocolate pairings with beer and other beverages. 

You can learn more about Clay and his work at his website The Chocolate Life.

You can watch/listen to his webcast Pod Save Chocolate here.

We did a follow-up to this episode on Pod Save, which you can listen to here.

You can purchase my book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together in the Bean to Barstool shop or on Amazon.

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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Sara Ratza at Ratza Chocolate in Tarpon Springs, Florida, loves craft beer almost as much as she loves chocolate, so working with neighboring breweries was always part of her plan. She recently provided cacao to Brighter Days Brewing, just a 5 minute walk from her shop, for a beer called Hooray for Hazel, a bourbon barrel-aged Imperial Stout brewed with hazelnuts, lactose, and cacao.

In this quick bonus episode, Sara and I discuss Hooray for Hazel, the cacao used in the beer, and her future plans for beer and chocolate partnerships.

You can hear my earlier full interview with Sara back in Episode 15. 

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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“I use [chocolate tasting] as a bit of a yogic moment to find some peace and quiet and sit back and enjoy what I’m eating.” - Tyler Cagwin, Nostalgia Chocolate

When I talk to chocolate makers or other chocolate professionals about the tasting experience, what drew them to chocolate, and what happens when they close their eyes with a piece of chocolate on their tongues, nostalgia is the word that comes from their lips more often than any other. So if a chocolate maker is going to use that word in their company name, they better know what they’re doing. Tyler Cagwin at Nostalgia Chocolate in Syracuse, New York, definitely does.

In this episode we talk with Tyler about his perspective on tasting chocolate, his experience working with brewers and hop growers, and his process for crafting his unique Hops Aged chocolate bar. We also talk to Chad Meigs at The Bineyard hop farm, who supplied the hops for this bar, and Jordan Pollock and Ivan Dedek at Meier’s Creek Brewing, who recently used Tyler’s cacao in a new Porter.

Episode Timeline:

:00-4:10 - Introduction

4:10-6:10 - Tyler Cagwin of Nostalgia Chocolate on his background and cacao sourcing

6:10-33:52 - Nostalgia Hops Aged Tanzania Kokoa Kamili 70% Dark Chocolate

 - (6:10-14:30 - Tyler Cagwin on his Hops Aged bar)

 - (14:30-21:20 - Explanation of IPA and hops in brewing)

 - (21:20-33:15 - Chad Meigs of The Bineyard hop farm)

33:52-43:10 - Nostalgia Chocolate’s work with Meier’s Creek Brewing

 - (34:08-37:33 - Tyler Cagwin on his partnership with Meier’s Creek Brewing)

 - (37:33-43:10 - Jordan Pollock & Ivan Dedek of Meier’s Creek Brewing)

43:10-51:48 - Tyler Cagwin on other beer collaborations and his reflections on chocolate tasting

51:48-54:01 - Conclusion

Episode Notes:

Beers discussed in this episode include Meier’s Creek Choccy Milk Porter and Talking Cursive Blonde Porter. 

Chocolate bars discussed in this episode from Nostalgia Chocolate include Hops Aged 70% Tanzania Kokoa Kamili, Madagascar Sambirano Valley, Madagascar Sambirano Valley 70%, Reserva Zorzal 70%, and Guatemala Chivite. These and other Nostalgia products are available on the Nostalgia Chocolate website.

The music for this episode was sampled from instrumental versions of the songs “Free” “Come Home” written and performed by indie folk musician Anna ps from her 2016 album Umbrella. You can find out more about Anna and get in touch about booking her for a show at her website.

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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“The satyr is the fun-bringer, and that is really what we wanted the spirit of this place to be. A poetic hub of fun.” - Tobias Cichon, Rabid Brewing co-founder

The large, hand-painted mural above the Rabid Brewing taproom in Homewood, Illinois, depicts a mythical origin story for beer in which fantastical creatures pour the golden elixir out for the denizens of this imaginary world. 

Fantasy and mythology drive much of what husband and wife team Tobias Cichon and Raiye Rosado do at Rabid Brewing. As the brewery celebrates their 4th anniversary, I sat down with the pair to talk about the passion behind their brewery, the mythological backstories behind their beers, and the sense of adventure the keeps them pursuing their dream.

I also spoke with Annabelle Popa, the artist behind the taproom mural and many other accents around the brewery.

Episode Timeline:

:00-5:45 - Introduction

5:45-13:17 - Raiye & Tobias - Rabid background and taproom artwork

13:17-20:40 - Annabelle Popa - Creating art for Rabid Brewing

20:40-27:10 - Raiye & Tobias - Rabid’s cohesive mythology and the Feast of the Goat Queen

27:10-34:11 - Raiye & Tobias - Dwarves of Doom and Rabid’s use of single origin cacao from bean to bar chocolate maker Ethereal Confections

34:11-38:29 - Raiye & Tobias - The significance of the Halloween season and the story Rabid Brewing is telling 

38:29-39:12 - Conclusion

Episode Notes:

Beers discussed in this episode include Rabid Brewing Horus Imperial IPA, Dwarves of Doom Imperial Stout with Smugglers Coffee and Ethereal Confections cacao, and Shadowstepper Milk Stout with lactose and Ethereal Confections cacao.

Other beers mentioned include Three Floyds Apocalypse Cow and Alpha King.

Chocolate and cacao discussed in this episode included Ethereal Confections Ecuador and Dominican Republic.

You can find examples of Annabelle Popa’s artwork and get in touch about working with her at her website.

You can read more about Raiye’s dinosaur beer deliveries in my article for The Reporter’s Notebook here.

The music for this episode was sampled from an instrumental version of the song “Umbrella” written and performed by indie folk musician Anna ps from her 2016 album of the same name. You can find out more about Anna and get in touch about booking her for a show at her website.

Guests:

Raiye Rosado & Tobias Cichon are the husband and wife co-founders of Rabid Brewing. They began dating in 2010, and Raiye promptly introduced Tobias to good beer. Their wedding was a Halloween costume party. The pair began homebrewing together, and decided to open a brewery after getting married. Rabid Brewing opened on October 13, 2017. 

Annabelle Popa is a freelance Illustrator and Muralist living in the Hudson Valley. Growing up in Queens and having a lack of the natural w

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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How do we become better beer tasters and get better at describing the flavors in our beer?

Natalya Watson is a Beer Sommelier and Advanced Cicerone® passionate about sharing her knowledge of beer with others because she believes that beer is simply too delicious to remain undiscovered. She’s the founder of Virtual Beer School, host of the ‘Beer with Nat’ podcast, and author of Beer: Taste the Evolution in 50 Styles.

In this quick interview, I talked with Nat about how we develop a better tasting vocabulary and ability to describe beer, and she highlighted the importance of practice and curiosity.

The music for this episode is from an instrumental version of the song “Come Home”, written and performed by indie folk musician Anna p.s.

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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“Chocolate acted as a central vehicle of women’s ritual power, and was a flashpoint for women’s disorderly behavior in public settings.” - Martha Few in her article “Chocolate, Sex, and Disorderly Women in Late 17th and Early 18th Century Guatemala” as quoted by Megan Giller

Chocolate is a plant-based food or drink in which the main ingredient—the seed of a tropical tree—is ground and melted and mixed into something wholly new. Sometimes spices or botanicals are added, and in the past this was all done by hand. This sounds almost like making a potion, right? That’s certainly what some folks in 17th and 18th century Mexico and Central America thought. It turns out many women were prosecuted at that time for reportedly casting spells with chocolate or outright poisoning people with chocolate potions.

In the last episode, we spoke with Dr. Christina Wade about the connections between Medieval alewives—female brewers who made part or all of their living brewing and selling unhopped beer known at the time as ale—and our modern depictions of fairy tale witches with cauldrons, cats, broomsticks, and pointy hats.

In this episode we’ll talk with Megan Giller, a chocolate writer and educator. Megan will tell the story of women in 17th and 18th century Mexico and other Central American countries who were accused of using chocolate in their witchcraft. Grab yourself some tasty bean to bar chocolate and follow along for this spellbinding tale.

This episode was inspired by Megan article “Poison Your Lover with Chocolate and Other Advice from 17th Century Witches” in issue three of Cacao Magazine. 

Also referenced in this episode is Martha Few’s article “Chocolate, Sex, and Disorderly Women in Late 17th and Early 18th Century Guatemala” in the journal Ethnohistory Volume 52, Issue 4 in fall 2005.

The beers referenced in this episode were Fibonacci Brewing Pepo Pumpkin Porter and Hulu Fresh Hop Ale. The chocolate mentioned in this episode was from Cultura Chocolate.

The music for this episode was sampled from an instrumental version of the song “200 Miles” written and performed by indie folk musician Anna ps from her 2016 album Umbrella. You can find out more about Anna at her website.

Megan Giller is a chocolate journalist and educator living in Brooklyn. Her food writing has appeared in The New York Times, Food & Wine, and numerous other publications, and her website Chocolate Noise was a 2016 Saveur Food Blog Awards finalist. Her book Bean to Bar Chocolate: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution was published in 2017.

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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Need the perfect theme for your at-home beer tasting party with friends?

I just published a full guide to hosting your own beer tasting at home on the Bean to Barstool blog, but the one thing I didn’t include was possible themes for your tasting. Listen to this super quick bonus episode for some great ideas to help you choose beer styles for your tasting event, and then read that full guide to help you plan your party!

You can also check out my brand new guide to hosting your own beer and chocolate pairing at home!

The music for this episode is an instrumental version of the song “Walls”, written and performed by indie folk musician Anna p.s. 

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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It’s exciting for people to learn this history about women in brewing in Medieval Europe and feel like they’re part of a story, but I think it’s important that we’re telling the right story and the story that’s based on primary-source information.

In recent years, associations have been made between depictions of Medieval alewives and our modern day image of witches, from pointy hats to cauldrons, and black cats to broom sticks. The story gets passed around by barstool historians claiming modern iconography of witches comes from these Medieval alewives, and as often happens, these stories have morphed into accepted popular history. But is there any truth to these stories? Was there ever a connection between female brewers and witchcraft, and how did this story get started? 

In today’s episode, we talk with Dr. Christina Wade, a beer writer and historian who helps us unpack the complicated mythology and iconography surrounding witches and brewing, and separate romance from reality when it comes to this spellbinding chapter of beer history.

Christina is one of the hosts of the excellent The Beer Ladies Podcast, which is available on all major podcast platforms. 

Christina also runs Braciatrix, a website devoted to the history of women in brewing. You can find articles on her site that go into greater detail on many of the topics we discuss in this episode.

In the episode, the following article by Beth Demmon for Good Beer Hunting is discussed:

Witch (Craft) Beer—How a New Wave of Brewers Are Incorporating Magic into Beer

The beer Christina mentioned in the episode was Trouble Brewing Pumpkin Brew.

The music for this episode was sampled from an instrumental version of the song “Valentine” written and performed by indie folk musician Anna ps from her 2016 album Umbrella. You can find out more about Anna at her website.

Dr. Christina Wade is a historian and archaeologist currently writing a book about the beer history of Ireland from medieval to modern craft beer. She is also the president and founder of the Ladies Craft Beer Society of Ireland and beer historian, co-host, and editor at The Beer Ladies Podcast. Wade is also a BJCP Certified Beer Judge and has judged competitions throughout Ireland. 

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.