Mike King of Encore Coffee and Chocolate
Mike King at Encore Coffee and Chocolate in Kansas City is currently making some of the best coffee-infused craft chocolate bars on the market. I’ve had the chance to talk with Mike at the Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival the past couple years, and we were finally able to connect for a conversation for Bean to Barstool a couple weeks ago.
We talk all about the overlap between these worlds, what he’s learned about each from the other, how sourcing and roasting and flavor formulation differs between them, and how he creates the delicious coffee infused bars like Cafe Mocha, Vanilla Latte, and Caramel Macchiato in his Coffee House Series.
You can learn more about Encore at their website and Instagram.
You can find previous coffee-themed episodes here:
Osito Coffee, Violet Sky Chocolate, and Cloud Walking Coffee
Episode timeline (approximate):
1:00 - Introduction
2:45 - How coffee roasting led Mike into cacao and chocolate
4:00 - How Mike sources coffee beans
5:30 - Encore’s house coffee character
6:25 - How Mike got into coffee
7:25 - How Mike sources cacao, and how cacao sources differs from coffee sourcing
9:45 - The learning curve of roasting cacao after coffee
11:25 - How Mike determines the roast profile for a new origin
14:10 - How coffee and cacao satisfy different creative impulses for Mike
15:10 - What roasting coffee and cacao have taught him about each
17:15 - Encore’s Coffee House series of coffee chocolate bars
25:00 - How his tasting process for coffee and chocolate differs
27:00 - Customers crossover between coffee and chocolate
28:00 - The Encore name
29:30 - What Mike is most excited about
32:00 - What story Encore is telling
Here you can find info and tickets for my upcoming beer and chocolate pairings at Third Eye Brewing and Full Circle Brewgarden.
Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together.
Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.
The music for this episode is by my dear friend, indie folk musician Anna ps. You can find out more about Anna’s music in the show notes or at their website annapsmusic.com, where you can also get in touch to book them to play at your brewery or other establishment.
Guest:
Mike King is the founder of Encore Coffee & Chocolate, a Kansas City–based specialty coffee roaster and bean-to-bar chocolate maker dedicated to craftsmanship, ethical sourcing, and exceptional flavor.
Mike began roasting coffee more than 20 years ago as a personal pursuit, driven by curiosity and a desire to understand what makes coffee truly great. What started as a hobby gradually became an obsession with quality, process, and precision. In 2016, he founded Encore Coffee to bring thoughtfully sourced, freshly roasted coffee to his local community.
In 2021, Mike expanded Encore to include bean-to-bar chocolate, applying the same philosophy and hands-on approach. Each chocolate bar is made from ethically sourced cacao and crafted from scratch at Encore’s Kansas City facility. His work has earned national recognition, including multiple awards from the Craft Chocolate Challenge.
Mike remains deeply involved in every aspect of production — from sourcing green coffee and cacao to roasting, refining, and final quality evaluation. His focus is simple: create products that are honest, approachable, and exceptional in flavor.
Encore Coffee & Chocolate reflects Mike’s belief that great coffee and chocolate don’t need to be complicated — just carefully sourced, skillfully crafted, and made with intention.