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A Taste of Honey—BBG Staffers Name Their Favorite (and Least-Favorite) Varieties
Plants & Gardens News | Volume 21, Number 3 | Fall 2006/Winter 2007
by Steven Clemants
Tupelo honey, a BBG staff favorite. (Photo: www.beecity.net)
Growing up, I never gave much thought to honey. It was a golden, sticky, sweet goo that came in teddy bear-shaped containers and tasted okay on toast. Only recently have I discovered that honey is not so uniform and mundane; indeed, some say it rivals wine and cheese in its diversity, complexity of flavor, and variety of uses.
Ancient Greek and Roman naturalists thought that honey was, literally, a product of the heavens. (Pliny called it "saliva of the stars"). They knew bees collected flower nectar and stored honey but had no concept that the bees actually made the honey. Of course, we know differently now. We even know how to cultivate unifloral honey, or honey from the flowers of single plant species. This has lead to a more consistent product and given birth to a new kind of food snob: the honey connoisseur.
But why the fuss: Isn't it all just honey in the end? To find out, I organized an informal staff honey tasting at BBG. There are hundreds of unifloral honeys being produced around the world. I decided to limit the tasting to ten honey varieties I found in markets around New York City. (Three "wildflower" honeys were included in the selection, but I only counted them as one entry here.)
On a July afternoon, I invited 15 staffers to be the tasting panel. Each taster was asked to rate the honey on a scale of 1 to 10—1 being inedible, 10 being exceptional. The tasters were also asked for their comments (preferably educated). Following are the honeys, listed in order of preference, along with their average scores and some tasting notes.
1. Hawaiian winter honey (9)
This rare, Big Island honey derives mostly from Eucalyptus robusta but surprisingly has no hint of menthol at all. Collected during the Hawaiian "winter," it is thick but quite mellow. Our panelists loved it; many tasted butterscotch or vanilla.
2. French lavender honey (8)
This classic, light amber honey from the lavender (Lavendula angustifolia) fields of Provence has a light taste and lavender bouquet and is often used in pastries and desserts. Several tasters commented on its simple, familiar, traditional honey flavor.
3. Tulip poplar honey (7)
The large flowers of the tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) are magnets for bees. The resulting amber-colored honey has a mild taste that's highly prized, particularly in the South. Some panelists reported a maple flavor, others a fruity one.
4. Tupelo honey (7)
Classic tupelo honey comes from the Ogeechee tupelo (Nyssa ogeche) of southern Georgia and northern Florida. The color is light, nearly clear. Because of its high fructose levels, the honey is very sweet and won't crystallize. Some tasters found the sweetness a little overwhelming.
5. Wildflower honey (7)
As a counterbalance to the unifloral honeys, I included some wildflower honeys in the mix. Wildflower honey is any honey whose specific plant source can't be determined, and we tasted three from New York State. Some panelists really liked the floral flavors; others thought the honeys were too sweet or strong or grainy.
6. Buckwheat honey (5)
Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) honey is old-fashioned stuff, reminiscent of Grandma's house. Those who grew up on the dark amber liquid often love its strong taste; for the uninitiated, it can be a bit much. One taster quipped, "It looks and tastes like molasses mixed with motor oil."
7. Rambutan honey (5)
To me, this exotic Javan rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) honey had a pleasing spicy, floral taste, but the panel generally complained of funny flavors such as "swimming-pool rubber." A few noted essences of apple or maple.
8. Pine honeydew (4)
Though not an actual honey, pine honeydew is sold as one. Honeybees make it, but their sugar source is the exudate of aphids growing on pine trees (Pinus species). One taster compared it to retsina, the Greek wine flavored with pine resin. But most panelists didn't like the "funky" taste.
9. Tasmanian leatherwood honey (4)
The honey of the Tasmanian leatherwood (Eucryphia lucida) has a devilishly distinctive flavor. As one website puts it: "Some people swear by it, others swear about it." Our tasters did the latter. Comments like "bitter" and "essence of bleach" were the norm.
10. Chestnut honey (4)
Tying for last place was an Italian chestnut (Castanea sativa) honey. This highly flavored dark honey is probably an acquired taste. Sharp and bitter, I find it a nice complement to Gorgonzola cheese; our panelists, however, found it "unpleasant" and "nasty," with a "carpet-cleaner finish."
Steven Clemants is the Vice President of Science at BBG.