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2 days ago | 
porchdrinking.com | David Nilsen
In this episode of Bean to Barstool, host David Nilsen talks with Dorothy Neary of NearyNogs Chocolate in Northern Ireland. They discuss the importance of music in Irish culture and how it’s influenced several of their chocolate bars, the use of distinctly Irish ingredients like gorse flower and seaweed, and the beautiful natural landscape around their factory that influences them creatively. We also discuss their use of Irish whiskey in several bars, and pairing with whiskey.
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1 week ago | 
pelliclemag.com | David Nilsen
Content Warning: This article makes frequent and detailed references to suicide and severe depression, therefore reader discretion is advised. No one should struggle with their mental health alone. If you are in the UK there are several charities you can reach out for support including Mind, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) and The Samaritans, who can be contacted on 116-123. In the USA you can contact Kevin’s Song on 313-236-7109.
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2 weeks ago | 
porchdrinking.com | David Nilsen
In this episode of Bean to Barstool, host David Nilsen talks with Michael Beans of Namesake Coffee in Dayton, Ohio. Michael and his wife and business partner, Jessica Beans, run Namesake with thought and intention, infusing their personalities into every aspect of their business.
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2 weeks ago | 
edibleohiovalley.com | David Nilsen
Englewood, Ohio —Dawn Kirchner is all about discovery. The cofounder of Full Circle Brewgarden, a brewery that opened in the northern Dayton suburb of Englewood in 2023, has a background in environmental science and spent many years in charge of education at Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, a children’s science museum in Dayton. She’s brought her love of the natural world—and her love of introducing that world to new eyes—to Full Circle. There are no TVs at Full Circle.
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1 month ago | 
porchdrinking.com | David Nilsen
Diego Hernandez started Diego’s Chocolate at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala in 1990. Diego and his family are of Tz’utujil Mayan heritage, and he adapted his abuela’s sipping chocolate recipe into a unique format—rolls of untempered chocolate, often made with unique inclusions. All of the cacao and inclusions are grown in Guatemala.
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1 month ago | 
porchdrinking.com | David Nilsen
Bean to Barstool host David Nilsen recently talked with Serge Savchuk, owner and chocolate maker at Vaka Chocolate in London, Ontario. They talked about the inspiration behind his spirits-infused or -inspired bars, including bars made with whisky, absinthe, gin, and rum, using spirits from North of 7 Distillery and Junction 56 Distillery. They also talked about what motivates him in developing unique inclusion, like his unexpected dill pickle and peanut butter bar.
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1 month ago | 
eater.com | David Nilsen
Dayton lives in the shadow of three larger Ohio cities — Columbus, Cincinnati, and Cleveland. But the Gem City (we don’t know for sure where the nickname originates, but we’re willing to make something up for visitors) is a fantastic destination in its own right, particularly for food and drink lovers. The city center is compact and highly walkable, and still somehow has universal free street parking on weekends and evenings.
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1 month ago | 
spiritsanddistilling.com | David Nilsen
When Bill and Johanna Welter decided to add a small brewery to their Journeyman Distillery in Three Oaks, Michigan, it was 2016—five years after they had opened. Craft beer was booming at the time, and the Welters saw a chance to entice beer lovers to their destination facility. However, they ran into a series of obstacles along the way, and by the time they released their first beer—in July 2024—the Welters had an appropriate name for the fledgling brewery: Sea of Monsters.
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2 months ago | 
porchdrinking.com | David Nilsen
In this episode we talk with Tandy Peterson of Embers Chocolate in Phoenix, Arizona. We discuss her spirits-infused bars using bourbon, mezcal, and other spirits that are made utilizing techniques not many makers are using, including soaking sugars, milk powder, and inclusion ingredients in the spirits themselves. We also discuss her unique, award-winning Elote bar that emulates the flavors of Mexican street corn.
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2 months ago | 
beerandbrewing.com | David Nilsen
When we think about cacao, we typically think dark and rich. Brewers have been putting nibs in their porters and stouts for decades. Cacao fruit, however—which is where we get those seeds for making chocolate—couldn’t be more different from that perception. Its flavors are practically a photographic negative of dark and rich—it’s bright, delicate, fruity, and tart, as if passion fruit and mango had a baby and swaddled it on a bed of watermelon rind. And, naturally, you can brew with it.
