I’m sure The Man and I aren’t alone in feeling that little buzz of happiness when a parcel gets delivered? Our joy was easily tripled when we were anticipating a delivery of handmade chocolates from Harry Specters to sample. If you’ve not heard of Harry Specters, allow me to introduce them – Beaky style, of course!
It’s well known that I have zero guilt when it comes to scoffing, especially where Cheese and Chocolate are concerned, but that guilt [if I felt any] would’ve got totally kiboshed here. With Harry Specters Chocolates, you get to feel good as you’re doing good. Harry Specters got its quirky name from company founders Mona and Shaz’s son, Ash, and it’s thanks to Ash’s autism that this social enterprise does things its own way.
Ash, Mona & Shaz
Life is difficult enough as is, but imagine how much harder it can be for young adults with Autism? They aren’t incapable at all, they just need a different way to process and carry out tasks, and this is where Harry Specters comes in. Mona and Shaz do the sourcing of all the fresh ingredients (keeping things as locally as possible), whilst employing only autistic young adults in their production and packing teams. The finest-grade chocolate that Harry Specters uses comes from cocoa that is sustainably produced; proof that ethics and economics don’t have to be exclusive of one another.
In a nutshell, that’s the USP of Harry Specters, with the added kudos of winning a stonking 36 awards in five years: Mind. Blown! Oh, and the obvious bonus of supporting other local businesses by buying ingredients from them, even down to the rich dairy cream they use. Anyway, back to that glorious moment that the parcel passed from the hands of our Postie into my eager little mitts…
Harry Specters Team Kings Award 2024
My excite-o-meter was close to overload as I opened the cardboard box, revealing wrapped layers of the different sized selections that we’d been very kindly sent from H.S.H.Q! Currently, Harry Specter offers four different sized trays of assorted chocolates, and we had three of them: Fine Nine, Bit of Everything, and House Selection; the [fourth] 25-chocolate assortment is called Luxe Selection.
As you know, gate-keeping has never been my M.O, so I immediately splashed this moment on the ‘Gram. Over the trio of boxes we’d been sent, there were loads of different temptations to try and, mindful that Harry Specters chocolates are a premium product, I decided that His Nibs and I couldn’t just don our PJs, veg-out on the couch and shovel them in one after the other on our gluttonous conveyor belt. A strategy, therefore, had to be carefully planned.
Given that the package had arrived on the Friday, we thought that we would savour a few chocolates over the weekend and really appreciate the care and attention that had gone into producing and packaging them. One slight obstacle was that we were already heading out in the evening for some tasty Keralan food and, due to the delicate nature of chocolate, we both felt that eating them after spicy food maybe wasn’t our brightest idea. So, Saturday evening was chosen as prime munching vibes, paired with a film on Netflix.
You could feel the anticipation crackling in the air as that first morsel, Dark Truffle, hit our mouths. The 60% dark chocolate lit up our brains’ pleasure centres like dy-na-mite! We sat there, grinning inanely at each other, and then the silky ganache melted and glided over our tongues like the finest designer gown over a models’ torso. Delicious and classic, this was top tier chocciness. It had been decorated beautifully, too, with tiny pink hearts on striking turquoise ‘vines’.
‘Salted Lime’ was up next, a partnership of 40% Belgian Milk Chocolate, Citrus, and Salted Caramel. This dome-shaped treat had been decorated with a single stripe of Lime colour on its surface and, inspection done, we tucked in. No doubt at all that Harry Specters nailed the brief here: our palates got a marvellous fusion of smooth chocolate, a searing citrus sharpness and a gorgeously zingy ozonic tang of salt. Perfection.
I won’t lie and pretend that I ate the ‘Banoffee’ dome; I didn’t. Being truthful, if my life had depended on it, I wouldn’t eat anything with Banana in! Luckily, The Man loooooves ‘nana, so he had double-bubble i.e. both chocolates. Another simple dome shape, this beauty delivered silky caramel zhuzhed with a gentle hint of Banana and was, apparently, superb. My reticence at anything Banana-containing is matched by His Nibs’ aversion to Peanut Butter, so what went around came around; it was my turn to scoff both PB delights. Shaped in a simple rectangle and decorated with two-tone ‘bar code stripes’, this chocolate looks fairly unassuming: its taste was anything but! My palate reveled in sumptuously thick, smooth Peanut Butter, appreciating its rich flavour. Yummy.
One of the common compliments that are sent to the HS team is that their chocolates are ‘so incredibly pretty’, and they really are – all of them! The faceted dome of the Mango and Raspberry chocolate had been pimped with a stunning Raspberry-toned lustre that caught our lamp’s light exquisitely; truth be told, we were already in love with this morsel before we’d even eaten it! Thankfully, we weren’t disappointed with its flavour either; the combination of Mango’s sweetness and Raspberry’s sharpness was balanced perfectly, producing a chocolate that surpassed our expectation.
‘Citrus Punch’ is one of the few White Chocolate-based treats in the Harry Specters stable, paired here with fresh Lime and Orange juice and zest. I really wanted to love this, I really did; well, actually, both of us did. Unfortunately, we felt that this was the weakest chocolate we’d sampled so far. Looks-wise, you couldn’t wish for a prettier little thing, with its rectangle form decorated in Lime and Orange coloured leaves that were so dinky and cute. However, the rich creaminess of the White Chocolate was simply too ardent for the citrus duo, despite their best efforts to be heard. Our disappointment was short-lived - Hurrah! – as the velvet texture of the 40% Milk Chocolate, Pecan Nut Butter, and organic Canadian Maple Butter (Maple and Pecan) swooped in and lifted our spirits with its seamless fusion of flavours.
The final chocolate of this Saturday sitting was the aptly named ‘Intense Coffee’. A smooth dome of 60% Dark Chocolate had been given an artful swipe of pale caramel on its surface, and this was the only delicate thing about this minx! There was a definite knack to glean maximum enjoyment from this chocolate, based on patience; needless to say, one of us got the most from this morsel, the other didn’t. Can you guess who was who? His Nibs allowed the warmth of his mouth to slowly melt the decadently rich shell and allow it to swirl with the freshly ground Coffee, a lazy smile of satisfaction creeping over his face as the layers revealed themselves. Me? I hastily scoffed the chocolate and got a fleeting blast of cocoa and coffee, albeit a delicious one. Note to self: patience is a virtue you could do with learning!!
In the interim of our first and second tasting sessions, there are a couple of things worth noting. Firstly, seven of the chocolates that Harry Specter produce are gluten free – handy to know if you can’t have the stuff, or if you’re buying for a gluten allergic or intolerant friend as a gift. Secondly, you can purchase the chocolates as a one-off, have a subscription to Harry Specters and get them delivered regularly (errr, yes please!), and even have bespoke choices made up to your personal preference of nut-free, dark chocolate only etc. Nifty, no? The Chocolate Club, i.e. subscription boxes, are the sizes I have already mentioned. Purchase-only box sizes are: 2,4,6,9,12,16, 25, the 36-chocolate ‘Ultimate Selection’, and the whopping ‘Signature Box’ that contains 55(!) filled Chocolates, Mini Bars and Chocolate Buttons.
Our next sitting, Sunday tea-time onwards (throughout the entire evening!), saw us get stuck in to even more splendid chocolates. Kicking this session off was the rather smart Apple Cinnamon, a pretty, faceted dome that had green ‘splatters’ as its decoration. The 40% Belgian Milk Chocolate was blended perfectly with a tempting fusion of Apple purée and Cinnamon that was beautifully balanced. Brilliant.
Sea Salt Caramel is pretty much guaranteed to be a winner at Beak H.Q and Harry Specters pulled this straight out of the [magnificence] bag!! The rectangle of 40% Milk Chocolate had an attractive swirling pattern on its surface and, when we bit into it, revealed a terrific blend of Muscovado sugar Caramel and Smoked Sea Salt that boggled the mind with its simultaneously sweet/savoury taste. Absolute genius from the HS team…you need to sell jars of the Sea Salt Caramel as a spread for toast etc.!
Up next was Caramel Latte, a smooth dome chocolate decorated with white splatters. The actual chocolate here was a Caramel one, filled with a punchy Espresso ganache. What we both loved here was the fact that, as you let the dome melt on your tongue, the caramel notes mingled with the coffee so that you got to fully savour the flavours together. I have to say that I really like Caramel Chocolate, it makes a change from the usual White, Milk and Dark options.
Pistachio and Chocolate are having a moment, thanks to the rise of so-called ‘Dubai Chocolate’, and Harry Specters are not ones to be left behind the curve! This rectangle of 40% Milk Chocolate had an eye-catching verdant pattern on it that Piet Mondrian would be envious of. The HS team [clearly] put their own slant on this morsel, leaving out the crunchy element, so what you get is a marvellously velvety chocolate that has a subtle hint of sweet Pistachio at its finish.
A brief hiatus was called on our Sunday chocolate tasting, for two reasons: 1) we like to limit the number of chocolates we sample in any one sitting so that our palates don’t get over-whelmed and 2) there was something on TV that needed our full attention. Resuming our ‘choc-fest’ a couple of hours later, we began with the Raspberry and Elderflower treat, a faceted dome of 60% Dark Chocolate festooned with purple splashes on its surface. The fruitiness of Raspberry twirled with the floral lightness of Elderflower like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers; splendid little chocolate.
Another faceted dome, the 60% Dark Chocolate, Passionfruit and Lemongrass was our next chocolate to try. Beautiful orange splatters decorated the dome surface, in homage to the colour of Passionfruit pulp. The ganache matched the intensity of the shell seamlessly, and we then got a marvellously zingy combination of Passionfruit’s bounce and aromatic Lemongrass washing over our taste buds. We both loved this far more than we’d initially thought we would.
Fresh Mint was another of Harry Specters Chocolates that bowled us over. The smooth dome of 60% Dark Chocolate has a simple swipe of deep green on its surface and, when you bite into it, tastes like actual freshly plucked Mint!! This morsel manages to be bold yet subtle at the same time, and the herb pairs perfectly with the intensity of the 60% cocoa. This is what you call a proper ‘grown up’ chocolate.
The conclusion to our weekend indulgence was another Elderflower containing offering; this time paired with Lemon and White Chocolate. As with every single chocolate from Harry Specters, the dome was beautifully decorated, this time with an abstract pattern in tones of yellow and green. In the mouth this was very delicate, like a whisper on the palate, with the creamy White Chocolate, breezy citrus and floral Elderflower waltzing delightfully together.
I personally can’t think of a better way to kick the working week off than with some artisan chocolates, can you? Monday vibes were main-lining, courtesy of Mango and Calamansi (aka Philippine Lime) and their partner, Dark Chocolate. The smooth dome was decorated with a pastel Lemon-toned ‘cap’ and, when bitten into, we discovered that that was the only subtle thing about this minx! Super fruity, the sweetness of the Mango balanced the exuberance of the intensely citrus Calamansi. Zingy and bright, this was exactly the chocolate to get you revved up to face Monday.
Simply Milk was the name of our next sample, but let me assure you that this was anything but ‘simple’. The rectangle of 40% milk, single origin Ganache cossetted our mouths in its embrace, releasing those feel-good endorphins round our bodies. Silky, smooth and indulgent, this chocolate was simply glorious.
By now, we had come down to our final pair of chocolates, not something we were feeling great about, if truth be told. We all know, though, that good things have to come to an end, so we put on our big pants and tucked into Strawberry and Cream, a gorgeous White Chocolate dome with pretty swirls of Rose Pink. This was super-creamy with a splash of excited fruit, and it reminded me of an artisan Strawberry Ripple Ice cream – how fab?!
Pina Colada brought our Chocolate odyssey to a triumphant conclusion, its faceted dome of 40% Milk Chocolate lushly decorated with splashes of white and yellow. This was perhaps the cleverest chocolate of the entire trio of boxes that we’d been kindly sent. Rather than being a simple fusion of Pineapple and Coconut, which would’ve been rather scrummy anyhow, this chocolate gave up its fruity element to the palate first, then released the sweeter Coconut afterwards. I have no idea how the chocolatiers at Harry Specter’s do this, but they are clearly very skilled chocolate magicians; bravo!!
Hot Wings absolutely given to the whole Harry Specter team, both for the quality of their chocolates themselves, for the fact that the company employ autistic young adults so their talents aren’t hidden under a bushel, and for the fact that His Nibs and I had a whopping 72 hours of cocoa-induced bliss. Thank you so, so much for entrusting us with your chocolates – it was our joy and privilege to sample them. We think you’re rather brilliant!
To order your high-end Chocolates (or filled Chocolate bars) visit www.harryschocs.co.uk and click the ‘shop’ button. The team work Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, in case you need to contact their customer service via email, and if you’re in the Ely area, in Cambridgeshire, you also have the option for in-person pick-up between 10am-4.30pm Mon-Fri.
