Seeing honey sticks while standing at a grocer’s checkout line always makes my day a bit better. These natural sweet snacks display the wide range of honey flavors that can be enjoyed by a honey enthusiast like myself. Luckily, honey sticks are becoming a common find as honey tasting continues to increase in popularity. In this article I'll discuss how honey can provide a range of delicious flavors and our own tasting experience of the CU Denver Bee Project honey.
A Moment of Time and Place
Honey variations are influenced by the type of flora that honey bees source from. Floral availability depends on the location and season, ultimately locking the honey in a moment of time and place. Seasons provide the temporal element by influencing when the abundance of a plant varietal will be during the year. Each year, the irreplaceable variation of the season gives honey a unique flavor (1).
The element of place is honey's unique characteristics that reflect a specific region. Terroir (a term usually associated with wines) refers to this agricultural phenomenon and has been frequently applied to honey's relationship with its place of origin. In French, the term is used to describe the environmental factors that affect the characteristics of crops. Factors that contribute to a unique terroir including climate, rainfall pattern, topography, and soil type. These factors which determine the type of crop along with its characteristics, sequentially influence the characteristics of honey (1;2).
Honey Varietals and Characteristics
The National Honey Board has identified approximately three hundred varietals of honey within the United States. Monofloral honey varietals are primarily made from one plant resource, such as blueberry. Hives that are placed within a monocrop area with a three-mile radius tend to produce monofloral honeys (2). More details on honey varietals in the U.S. can be found at National Honey Board Honey: Honey Varietals.
Coloration of honey varietals range from practically transparent to
darker opaque browns. Honey that is lighter tend to have milder tastes,
while stronger flavors are usually found in darker honeys.
When tasting these honey varietals, a range of senses are used to identify the botanical origin of the honey (4). During the tasting, consider the visual, taste, texture, and aroma provided by the honey. These characteristics contribute to the honey's overall flavor (3).
Our Honey
The CU Denver Bee Project cultivates honey in three distinct terroirs within Colorado (Denver, Littleton, and Montrose). Because of this our beehives provide a range of honey varietals. In 2019 we decided to record our own tasting notes from each place, and came up with diverse characteristics for the honey shown in the chart below.
If you're interested in trying out our varietals visit Donations for Bee Products to place an order. For additional information on honey tasting, I highly recommend Marina Marchese's 2013 guide, Honey Connoisseur. Additionally, the American Honey Tasting Society hosts honey tasting courses for the aspiring honey sommelier.
Resources
1. Eckles, A. (2014). ABOUT HONEY: This year, become A honey connoisseur. Bee Culture, 142(5), 75.
2. Ekasetya, Laura. Why honey tastes differently and how you can learn to appreciate them. Lurie Garden
3. Marina Marchese 2017: Notes from a Honey Sommelier Honey: Different Flowers, Different Flavors. https://www.americanhoneytastingsociety.com/single-post/2017/04/12/Notes-from-a-Honey-Sommelier-Honey-Different-Flowers-Different-Flavors
4. Piana M.L., Odo L.P., BRUNEAU E., BENTABOL A., BOGDANOV S., DECLERCK C.G. 2004. Sensory analysis applied to honey: state of the art. https://www.apidologie.org/articles/apido/pdf/2004/06/MHS05.pdf
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