Bean to Barstool

Author: David Nilsen

A podcast exploring the intersections of craft beer and craft chocolate.
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Language: en-us

Genres: Arts, Food

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Good Flavors Are Universal: Liang Wang of KESSHŌ Chocolate
Monday, 19 January, 2026

"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.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.