Honey flavors are influenced by the plants bees collect nectar from, with darker honeys having stronger flavors. Processing can also affect flavor, and buyers should choose honey that looks and tastes good. Honeycomb honey is the most natural but not very stable.
The flavors of honey are influenced by where the bees go as they collect nectar. For this reason, many stores offer an assortment of flavors, commonly including clover honey, sage honey, and various honey blends. The difference is in flavor, rather than nutrition, although the nutritional value of honey can be affected by how it is handled and treated. When choosing which type to buy, buyers should select one that looks good and tastes good, and remember not to feed honey to babies, due to botulism concerns.
Honey is one of the oldest sweeteners known to man and has been widely consumed and written about historically. Early observers noted that the flavor of honey was influenced by the area where the bees collected nectar and the season, and early beekeepers placed their hives in strategic locations to improve the quality of their honey. When bees eat from fragrant flowers like lavender, for example, the honey will be scented and mildly flavored with the lavender. Darker honeys with a stronger flavor come from plants such as buckwheat, thistle, alfalfa, sage, and berry-producing plants. Lighter honeys, such as clover honey, acacia and orange blossom honey, have a milder flavor and color.
Typically, honey is identified by the primary forage plant to which bees have access. Bees living in an apple orchard, for example, will produce apple blossom honey. In some cases, the honey will be blended during processing to create a particular flavor. Darker honeys, in particular, are sometimes blended with light honeys so that the rich, bold flavors of the buckwheat and berries can be blended with milder clover or orange honey so the flavor isn’t overwhelming. Honey flavors can also be blended allowing bees access to a wide variety of plant materials.
Processing also has an impact on the flavor of the honey. The most naturally tasting honey is honeycomb honey, which is packaged, combed and all, for sale to consumers. This type is not very stable, however, because it is not filtered for contaminants. Typically, the honey is allowed to slowly drain from the honeycomb over a filter before being packaged, although the honeycomb can also be swirled in a centrifuge. Honey that has been heated will lose much of its flavor, so consumers should try to store cold-processed, minimally processed honey for the best flavor.
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