Episode 14: Megan Giller Author of Bean-to-Bar Chocolate

Well Tempered

Description: Food writer, journalist, and now author of the latest book revealing the cast of characters and intricacies of the burgeoning artisan chocolate scene, Megan Giller shares her story on this Well Tempered women-in-chocolate podcast. A Texan native, she now resides in Brooklyn, NY and loves all of the chocolate...she hosts tastings and meet-ups known as 'Underground Chocolate Salons', and her work has appeared in the New York Times, Eater, Food & Wine, and Forbes to name a few. In 2016 - just a year after launch - her website ChocolateNoise.com was a finalist for the Saveur Blog Awards.
October 2021 update: Megan has been leading virtual and in-person tastings in NYC and SF, learn more here.

July 2019 update: Her book, Bean-to-Bar: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution has become a reference for chocolate educators around the globe. Since this podcast release, Megan interviewed me on her website, read my WKND Chocolate interview here.

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Photo credit: Sascha Reinking

Megan's book 'Bean-to-Bar Chocolate: America's Craft Chocolate Revolution: The Origins, the Makers, and the Mind-Blowing Flavors' is available now!

Themes discussed in this episode:

• Her start as a food writer

• Writing a book that she wished existed when she entered the scene

• How the Madagascar single origin swept her off her feet and launched a category

• Literally dreaming of craft chocolate -- the obsession and the curse

• Having to define terms within a maturing sector, with few solid references to work with

• Balancing social media into your life and profession

• Finding and writing for your tribe

Other links:

- Dr. Kristy Leissle writing on the word 'artisan'; "...demonstrates that “artisan” has shifted away from denoting a labor class. Instead, it now suggests a community of producers and consumers who perceive shared priorities for this value chain."
- Her article about 'women in chocolate' that acknowledges many (and counting) female makers, owners, and crafters

Three craft chocolates Megan would take to the Cosmos:
1) Fruition Chocolate's Marañón Canyon Dark Milk 68%
2) Askinosie Dark Chocolate, Crunchy Sugar Crystals & Vanilla Bean (CollaBARation wih Zingerman's Deli)
3) Dandelion Chocolate 70% Mantuano, Venezuela

Books/articles Megan is reading or recommends (other than hers!):

• The Faraway Nearby (a non-chocolate-y memoir) by Rebecca Solnit

• Refined Tastes by Wendy A. Woloson

• The True History of Chocolate by Sophie D. and Michael D. Coe

• The New Taste of Chocolate (Revised) by Maricel Presilla

• Chocolate by Mort Rosenblum

• Chocolate, Women, Empire by Emma Robertson

Upcoming chocolate books being released the latter part of 2017 and into 2018
- Dandelion Chocolate's 'Making Chocolate: From Bean to Bar to S'more'
- Meaningful Work: A Quest to Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul by Shawn & Lawren Askinosie
- Cocoa by Kristy Leissle
- A forthcoming chocolate and whiskey book by R.M Peluso, author of Deep Tasting: A Chocolate Lover's Guide to Meditation
- Chocolate Alchemy: A Bean to Bar Primer by Kristen Hard (of Cacao Atlanta)

Where to find more from Megan:
Chocolate Noise website
Instagram: @chocolatenoise
Facebook: @chocolatenoise
Twitter: @megangiller
Email: [e-mail]
Book a virtual chocolate tasting with Megan

Where to find Lauren, host of Well Tempered and chocolate maker at WKND Chocolate:
Instagram & Twitter: @wkndchocolate
New podcasts, chocolate recipes, and Conversations in Cocoa at laurenonthewknd.substack.com

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