It’s easier to sweeten cold drinks with honey: Sugar often is difficult to dissolve. Photo courtesy National Honey Board.

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February 2005

Last Updated October 2012

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Honeys, Sugars & Syrups

Honey Types

Page 4: Popular Honey Varietals

This is Page 4 of a four-page article. Click on the black links below to visit other pages.

• Page 1: Introduction To Honey
• Page 2: Types Of Honey Based On Processing Techniques
• Page 3: Forms Of Honey
• Page 3: Specialty Honey Products
• Page 3: Certified Honeys
• Page 4: Honey Types ~ Glossary Of Honey Varietals (Monofloral Honey)
• Page 4: Books About Honey

Honey Varietals: Overview(Monofloral Honey)

Not all flowers have nectar that makes good honey; and bees other than honeybees make honey for food. but there are many hundreds of honey varietals. The flavor and color of honey are determined by the nectar source. The U.S. produced 171.7 million pounds of honey from 26 million bee colonies in 2003—from clear-as-water to dark brown, from very mild to very strong flavored, from delicately perfumed to pungent. (NOTE: New Zealand and Australian specialty honeys are included in this chart because they are now arriving in U.S. specialty food venues. Look for them.)

Crystallization depends on the proportion of fructose to glucose in the honey (each varietal has its own proportion); the higher the fructose, the less likely to crystallize.

As with wine, the flavor and color of honey can differ every year, even from the same location and beekeeper. While the same type of flower from a different region can produce a different region, even locally, as with grapes, a difference in the weather and “blossoming season” will make a difference in the honey. Finally, it’s important to note that while some honeys taste exactly like their source—buckwheat honey tastes exactly like buckwheat—a honey does not necessarily taste like the fruit of the plant. Blueberry honey does not necessarily taste like blueberries, nor raspberry honey like raspberries, etc. Honeys are based on the nectar of the flower, not on the infusion of the fruit of the plant. Sometimes there’s a close correlation, sometimes not. Some fruit honeys are enhanced with extra flavor; read the labels carefully. Raw honey means that nothing has been added.  “Milky” is the classic honey flavor.

Different plants produce different flavors and colors of honey. Colors range from clear to black-brown. Photo courtesy National Honey Board.

Honey Varietals: Overview(Monofloral Honey)

There are hundreds of varietals in the U.S. alone. This list aims to feature those most frequently found at retail.

Numerous other varietals are available. See HoneyLocator.com.

Some definitions courtesy of Wikipedia and the National Honey Board. The National Honey Board enhances the ability of U.S. honey producers to compete efficiently and effectively in the marketplace and to promote honey and honey products to the consumer.

 

Go To Page 1: Honey Overview

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Books About Honey
 

Cooking With Honey: Hands-on practical advise for cooking with honey. Click here for more information.	Joy With Honey: 236 delightfully honey packed time tested recipes. Click here for more information.	Covered in Honey: Discover the bounty of flavors with varietal honey. Click here for more information.