Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

Rowan Jacobson’s book, Wild Chocolate: Across the Americas in Search of Cacao’s Soul, reveals the fascinating history, economics and personalities inside the bean-to-bar chocolate industry. April Lidinsky savors this book with Hans Westerink, founder of Violet Sky Chocolate.

00:00 Introduction & Episode Preview
00:36 Exploring “Wild Chocolate”
00:58 Meet Hans Westerink of Violet Sky Chocolate
01:39 Making Chocolate Pudding Cream
02:05 What Chocolate Really Is
03:18 Roasting & Processing Cocoa Beans
04:03 Inside the Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Process
05:11 How Chocolate Flavor Develops
06:05 The Search for Wild Cacao
08:12 Tasting Notes & Chocolate Origins
09:23 Hans’ First Chocolate Batch Story
10:16 Tempering Chocolate Explained
12:04 Why Good Chocolate Tastes Different
14:02 The Global Chocolate Trade
15:07 Fermentation & Drying Cocoa Beans
16:18 How Small Chocolate Makers Operate
17:21 Chocolate Culture Around the World
18:39 How Chocolate Bars Are Molded
19:28 Pairing Chocolate With Other Flavors
22:21 Sustainability & The Future of Chocolate
24:30 The Addictive Nature of Chocolate
25:16 Final Thoughts on “Wild Chocolate”
26:39 Credits