Shortish and sweet for the first one. This is going to be the 1st blog from me which will feature (semi) regularly online and in our newsletters. In future blogs I will cover some of the history of Gorvett & Stone Ltd. Mistakes we’ve made, as well the successes, big days, positive and negative and how all-nighters have got us out of trouble. Thank goodness for pizza deliveries. All pretty standard stuff for small business owners, but the main focus will be on the chocolate!
The subject of the first blog is our collaborations with some local Henley businesses. Last summer on a boiling hot day we had our first meeting with Mr Hobbs Gin on the top deck of a Hobbs of Henley boat. They wanted us to develop a Mr Hobbs Gin Chocolate Truffle to accompany their range of Gins and Liqueurs. A few weeks later we presented them with our creations and they picked their favourite and we were off to the races (sorry – Royal Ascot is on as I write this…)
Our “collabs” as the chocolatiers in the kitchen insist on calling them, are a no brainer for us. They obviously offer great opportunities for marketing and the local press love it when 2 local companies work together, but we wanted the products themselves to be of the highest quality and that comes from using such high quality ingredients
Our Mr Hobbs Gin + Orange Truffles were a runaway success for Christmas 2018 following an article in the Henley Standard. The people of Henley clearly love supporting local businesses and I was over-the-moon with the demand for these products. They are made with 38% Cocoa Milk Chocolate, fresh cream from Laceys Dairy and Orange Oil and each one is decorated with orange peel. They have a real “kick” of Gin too (not much point if a Gin chocolate doesn’t taste of Gin)
Our 2nd “collab” of recent times came with a new Henley business - Fairmile Vineyard. Owners Jan and Anthea have had to demonstrate some patience for this one, as it takes at least 4 years from the planting of vines, before you can grow grapes of good enough quality to turn into wine. They approached us originally in 2018 to make an English Sparkling Wine Truffle as opposed to a champagne truffle. Again we were very happy to oblige. The Fairmile Fizz Truffle was born, again it is a milk chocolate truffle made with 38% cocoa chocolate and fresh cream and rolled in icing sugar. The booze is subtler this time; they are sweet and delicately flavoured. They are just incredibly “moreish” (in our opinion at least) and as good as any champagne truffle you can buy anywhere….probably.
Along with the 2 new creations above we are very pleased to now have our products stocked at The River and Rowing Museum and most recently at The Regal Picturehouse. Over the years we have always tried to use local ingredients where we can. Our cream comes from Laceys Dairy in Lane End near High Wycombe and the honey in our Cinder Toffee and Honeycomb products comes from Brightwell Bees in Brightwell cum Sotwell near Wallingford.
Mr Hobbs Gin Truffles and Fairmile Fizz Truffles are now available online and at our shop in Henley and available at Buy one get one Half Price if ordered online before Friday 19th July. We do have click and collect available as well if you want to pick them up from the shop. Don’t worry about the heat. We can include cool packs with all purchases.
Other "Collabs" are in the pipeline. Watch this space.... If you would like to collaborate with Gorvett & Stone drop us a line.
Until the next time…
Matt