Services
Get in touch with David about these services!
Chocolate, beer, and artisan drinks have beautiful stories to tell through the language of our senses. If you run a business, these stories have the ability to deepen the connections between your customers and your creations. If you’re an avid taster, these stories can help you connect to a deeper experience of tasting. Bean to Barstool host David Nilsen is in the unique position to help you tell—and hear—those stories.
David Nilsen can provide a range of event services. Below are examples:
Beer & chocolate pairing events—virtual or in-person
Hire David to put on a beer and chocolate pairing event for you and your friends, employees, or customers. These events can be either virtual (hosted over Zoom) or in-person, as either private or public ticketed events). David will tailor these events to fit the length and theme you want, curate the beers and chocolates for the event, and host the Zoom event for your group if needed.Beer or chocolate tasting events—virtual or in-person
Hire David to put on a beer or chocolate tasting event for you and your friends, employees, or customers. These events can be either virtual (hosted over Zoom) or in-person, as either private or public ticketed events). David will tailor these events to fit the length and theme you want, curate the beers or chocolates for the event, and host the Zoom event for your group if needed. For examples of beer-specific events, check out David’s beer services here.
Conference talks
David is available to give talks at craft chocolate or craft beer conferences on a wide range of topics. Get in touch to inquire about pre-packaged talks, or to discuss your event’s needs.
Consulting on the use of cacao and related botanicals in brewing, and the use of beverage alcohol products in craft chocolate
David has spent years covering these industries and focusing on collaboration between craft chocolate, craft beer, and other artisan segments. Work with David on developing products that bring together cacao and craft chocolate with craft beer and other artisan drinks.
Suggested beer pairings
Allow David to suggest the perfect beer & chocolate pairings for your website, social media, or product packaging.Copywriting
Rise above the din of craft beer and chocolate marketing by having David write evocative and accurate descriptive copy for your beer or chocolate and memorable brand stories to help sell your creations.
Below you will find some example talks and events David can provide, but you can also reach out about bespoke event options.
Example talks & events:
Beer Chocolate Tasting
– Event type: Educational guided tasting for general audience
– Great for: virtual events, corporate or private events, community events, libraries, craft chocolate conferences & festivals
Just as craft brewers use cacao and chocolate to many delicious dessert beers, craft chocolate makers use beer and its ingredients to make delicious and innovative beer-infused chocolate bars.
During this guided tasting, David walks attendees through a tasting of 5 craft chocolate bars that were made with beer or beer ingredients like malt and hops. Along the way, he’ll explain the specific beers and ingredients used, how they were utilized to create each bar’s unique flavors, and profile the chocolate makers and the craft breweries they worked with.
Attendees to this event learn the basics of craft chocolate (how it’s made, where its ingredients come from, etc), how to taste chocolate, and the basics of beer ingredients. The event is both fun and educational, helping attendees learn about their favorite treats in a non-intimidating format.
Spirits Chocolate Tasting
– Event type: Educational guided tasting for general audience
– Great for: virtual events, corporate or private events, community events, libraries, craft chocolate conferences & festivals
Craft chocolate makers love artisan spirits like bourbon, rum, and gin to create fascinating and delicious chocolate bars that highlight the unique character of these spirits.
During this guided tasting, David walks attendees through a tasting of 5 craft chocolate bars that were made with various artisan spirits. Along the way, he’ll explain the specific spirits used, how they were utilized to create each bar’s unique flavors, and profile the chocolate makers and the distilleries they worked with.
Attendees to this event learn the basics of craft chocolate (how it’s made, where its ingredients come from, etc), how to taste chocolate, and the basics of chocolate and spirits collaboration. The event is both fun and educational, helping attendees learn about their favorite treats in a non-intimidating format.
From Bean to Barstool and Back: Collaboration and Commonality Between Chocolate, Beer, and Spirits
– Event type: industry-focused talk for conference audiences, though can be tailored for general audience
– Great for: beer or spirits conferences, craft chocolate conferences & festivals
Craft chocolate has much in common with artisan beverage segments like craft beer and small batch spirits, and we’re seeing more and more collaborations between the two. Chocolate makers, brewers, distillers, and other beverage alcohol producers are all looking for ways to court new customers and explore new flavors, and collaboration provides a way to use unique ingredients while reaching a new group of fans.
In this conference presentation, David explores what craft chocolate makers have in common with craft brewers and other beverage makers, and how these artisans are working together in exciting (and delicious) ways, providing examples of common products, processes, and ingredients.
This talk can be tailored to a beer or other drinks industry audience, chocolate industry audience, or—for public beer or chocolate conferences or festivals—for general audiences within a given industry.
Working with Writers: Sharing Stories, Not Just News
– Event type: industry-focused talk for conference audience
– Great for: craft chocolate conferences
Every craft chocolate company has a story to tell; actually, it probably has quite a few of them. Those stories are what hook potential fans and help them as well as established followers buy into what makes each maker unique. But how do you get those stories in front of the people who will connect to them?
Maintaining a list of news outlets and reporters to send your press releases about new products, upcoming events, and other timely news pieces is an important part of your media strategy, but it shouldn’t be the only part. Many writers who cover the food and drink world don’t necessarily cover these news pieces, but might want to dive into the deeper stories of what your company is all about. How do you identify what those stories are, and how do you build relationships with these writers?
In this talk, David talks about what catches his attention when seeking out stories, how producers can identify the stories that already exist within their company, and how they can communicate these stories to media efficiently and effectively.
From Cacao to Wow: The Chocolate-Making Process
– Event type: educational tasting for general audience
– Great for: virtual events, corporate or private events, community events, libraries
Chocolate isn’t just a childhood treat—at its best, it’s an artisan product that involves agriculture, fermentation, and craftsmanship. Craft chocolate can lead us on a global flavor exploration. In this talk and guided tasting, David talks about the cacao tree and its fruit that gives us chocolate, how cacao beans are fermented and turned into chocolate, and why it’s important to care where our chocolate ingredients come from. Along the way he’ll lead a tasting of several excellent examples.