Blind Tasting: a Cuban-American chef ranks canned black beans (Goya, Iberia, Bush's, Kirby, El Ebro)

Blind Tasting: a Cuban-American chef ranks canned black beans (Goya, Iberia, Bush's, Kirby, El Ebro)

Chef Michael Beltrán is the chef partner at Ariete Hospitality Group, the company behind Miami restaurants Ariete, Chug's Diner, Nave, Taurus and The Scapegoat. He was named a semifinalist for a 2020 James Beard Award (Best Chef: South) and takes pride in having worked his family black bean recipe onto one of his restaurant menus.

Not everybody's gonna make their own black beans, though. So we had Mike blind taste and rank six common brands of canned seasoned black beans that you might consider microwaving and serving over white rice — Goya, Bush’s, Bush’s Cuban Style, Kirby, Iberia and El Ebro.

Mike is also the host of Pan Con Podcast, where he and guests talk about food, craft, craft, culture, entrepreneurship and more.



Nicolás Antonio Jiménez is the founder of DADE. He’s always working through his rotation of writer, podcast host, podcast producer, photographer and editor hats.

A Miami native and graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, Nick’s background includes work in democracy promotion, human rights advocacy, content marketing and magazine journalism (most recently as senior editor of Cigar Snob).