Marinades honey
Honey's acidity tenderises and its sugars brown. Strong honeys survive the company.
51 honeys · culinary use
Honeys in this group
- Purple loosestrife honeyAmber · PronouncedStrong and tangy with a distinct green herbal note over dark caramel — an unusual profile that some tasters find sharp and others find refreshing.
- Brazilian pepper honeyLight amber · ModerateWarm and peppery with a distinct resinous spice and a faint tartness — genuinely reminiscent of the pink peppercorns the plant produces.
- Rabbitbrush honeyAmber · PronouncedStrong and resinous with a bitter herbal edge and a distinctly medicinal note — one of the more challenging American honeys and an acquired taste at best.
- Messmate honeyAmber · PronouncedStrong and resinous with a malty depth and a faintly medicinal eucalypt lift — assertive and unmistakably Australian.
- Bloodwood honeyAmber · PronouncedStrong and malty with a resinous depth and a distinct woody astringency — one of the more assertive Australian honeys.
- Beech honeydew honeyAmber · PronouncedRich and malty with a resinous depth, a low sweetness and a distinctly savoury mineral finish — a serious honey, and quite unlike anything else New Zealand produces.
- Central Otago thyme honeyLight amber · PronouncedIntensely aromatic and herbal with a warm thyme character and a long savoury finish — closely comparable to a good Greek thyme honey, which surprises most people.
- Eucalyptus honeyExtra light amber · ModerateWoody and faintly medicinal, with caramel and a cool eucalypt lift. More savoury than its colour suggests.
- Saw palmetto honeyLight amber · PronouncedSmoky and peppery with a warm resinous depth — an unusual and slightly savoury honey that divides opinion sharply.
- Mesquite honeyExtra white · MildMild and smooth with a faint smoky-molasses note that arrives after the sweetness rather than with it.
- Longan honeyLight amber · PronouncedIntensely aromatic — caramel, dried tropical fruit and a distinctive musky floral note that is unlike anything in the European catalogue.
- Rockrose honeyLight amber · PronouncedBalsamic and resinous with a warm amber sweetness underneath — it smells of incense and hot scrubland, and tastes considerably less sweet than its colour suggests.
- Oregano honeyLight amber · PronouncedIntensely herbal and warm, with an oregano-and-thyme aromatic over a caramel base and a dry, faintly medicinal finish.
- Cabbage palm honeyAmber · PronouncedDark, smoky and savoury with a mineral saltiness and only moderate sweetness — an unusual and polarising honey.
- Bamboo honeyAmber · PronouncedRich and buttery with a distinct tang, frequently compared with a lighter buckwheat — malty and slightly sharp rather than sweetly floral.
- Kelulut honeyLight amber · PronouncedDistinctly sour and tangy with a fruity, almost fermented character — closer to a sharp fruit syrup than to what most people expect honey to taste like.
- Vosges fir honeyDark amber · PronouncedBalsamic and malty with a resinous woody depth and a marked lack of sweetness — closer to treacle and pine resin than to anything floral.
- Tree heath honeyAmber · IntenseStrong, malty and slightly bitter, with a burnt-caramel depth and a woody finish — assertive in a way that divides opinion sharply.
- Savory honeyLight amber · PronouncedIntensely herbal with a distinct peppery, almost oregano-like bite over a warm sweetness — one of the more assertive Mediterranean aromatics.
- Sycamore honeydew honeyAmber · ModerateMalty and mildly sweet with a savoury, faintly smoky depth and a mineral finish — less resinous than the conifer honeydews and more caramelised.
- Buckwheat honeyDark amber · IntenseMalt, molasses and wet straw, with a savoury, almost animal depth. The most polarising honey in general production.
- Chestnut honeyAmber · IntenseAromatic, woody and unmistakably bitter — sweetness first, tannin second, and a long dry finish.
- Thyme honeyLight amber · PronouncedWarm, herbal and savoury — thyme and dry stone, with a peppery lift and a very long finish.
- Forest honeydew honeyDark amber · PronouncedResinous, malty and mineral, with far less sweetness than its darkness suggests. Closer to treacle and pine forest than to anything floral.
- Avocado honeyDark amber · IntenseDark, buttery and molasses-rich with a savoury, almost salty edge. Nothing about it suggests the fruit.
- Tulip poplar honeyAmber · PronouncedDark, buttery and malty with a smoky caramel depth and much less bitterness than its colour suggests.
- Oak honeydew honeyDark amber · IntenseEarthy, salty and barely sweet, with a bitter-mineral depth and a finish more like a stock or a yeast extract than a sweetener.
- Tualang honeyAmber · IntenseSharply sour and dark, with a fermented-fruit tang over a molasses base — genuinely unlike any temperate honey, and an acquired taste.
- Jamun honeyAmber · PronouncedDark, tannic and astringent with a dried-fruit depth and a dry finish — noticeably less sweet than most honeys of similar colour.
- Carob honeyAmber · IntenseDark, malty and distinctly savoury with a fermented, almost cheesy note that people either find fascinating or cannot get past.
- Banksia honeyAmber · PronouncedStrong, malty and savoury with a burnt-caramel depth and a distinctly salty-mineral edge.
- Coriander honeyLight amber · PronouncedWarm and spicy with an unmistakable coriander-seed aroma over a caramel base — one of the most immediately recognisable honeys there is.
- Mahua honeyDark amber · IntenseHeavy and molasses-like with a fermented dried-fruit note and a faintly smoky finish — one of the more challenging Indian honeys and among the most distinctive.
- Gelam honeyAmber · PronouncedSharp and aromatic with a distinct medicinal eucalyptus-like lift over a caramelised base — assertive and unmistakably from the myrtle family.
- Mopane honeyAmber · PronouncedDark and malty with a savoury mineral depth and a faintly smoky finish — closer to a European forest honeydew than to an African blossom honey.
- Tamarisk honeyAmber · PronouncedDark and mineral with a malty depth and a distinct faint saltiness that reflects the ground — an unusual and genuinely savoury honey.
- Cashew honeyAmber · PronouncedTangy and resinous with a warm caramel base and a faintly astringent finish — assertive and quite unlike the mild nut it comes from.
- Hyssop honeyExtra light amber · PronouncedOvertly herbal — camphor, mint and warm stone — over a clean gold sweetness. One of the more clearly aromatic herb honeys.
- Cardoon honeyLight amber · PronouncedSavoury and faintly bitter, with a warm caramel body and an unmistakable green-vegetable note that is genuinely artichoke-like.
- Holm oak honeydew honeyDark amber · IntenseDark, savoury and barely sweet, with malt, liquorice and a genuine salt-mineral depth. As far from what people expect honey to be as anything in the catalogue.
- Garrigue honeyExtra light amber · ModerateHerbal, warm and dry, with thyme and rosemary running through a light caramel body. The clearest example in the catalogue of a honey tasting of a landscape.
- Ajwain honeyExtra light amber · PronouncedAromatic and faintly medicinal, with a clear thyme-and-caraway note over light amber sweetness.
- Moringa honeyExtra light amber · ModerateGreen, peppery and faintly vegetal over a light sweetness — recognisably related to the mustard-oil chemistry running through the whole plant.
- Tamarind honeyLight amber · ModerateAmber, warm and distinctly tart, with a caramel body and a sour-fruit edge that does echo the tamarind pod.
- Durian honeyAmber · IntensePungent, savoury and unmistakably related to the fruit — a sulphurous undertone over dark caramel. It divides opinion as sharply as durian itself.
- Mangium honeyAmber · PronouncedDark, malty and lightly resinous, with a savoury depth that reads as honeydew rather than as blossom.
- Combretum honeyLight amber · ModerateWarm and caramel-led with a dried-fruit depth and a faint woody dryness. A robust everyday honey rather than a delicate one.
- Sumac honeyAmber · PronouncedTart, dark and lightly resinous, with a sour-fruit edge unusual in an American honey and a definite tannic dryness.
- Carrot seed honeyAmber · PronouncedDark, savoury and faintly medicinal, with a green umbellifer note and a slightly bitter finish. A challenging honey and an interesting one.
- Angico honeyAmber · PronouncedDark, resinous and faintly smoky over a caramel body. A robust honey with more character than most tropical crops.
- Swamp mahogany honeyAmber · PronouncedStrong, malty and resinous with a lingering bitterness. One of the more challenging Australian honeys and a good one.
Plants behind these honeys
- EucalyptusEucalyptusProlific in both nectar and pollen when flowering, though the pollen of some species is nutritionally poor for honey bees, and colonies confined to a single eucalypt species can suffer over time despite abundant forage.
- ThymeThymus
- RockroseCistus ladaniferAn outstanding pollen source and a good nectar one, and a plant that also supplies resin for propolis — an unusual triple contribution.
- MarjoramOriganum vulgareRepeatedly ranks at or near the top of controlled garden trials for total insect visits, and unusually it scores well for both bees and butterflies — few plants do both.
- Silver firAbies albaNo floral nectar and negligible pollen. Its entire forage value is honeydew, which is why nectar and pollen are rated separately in this catalogue — a single bee-friendliness score would make this tree look worthless.
- English oakQuercus roburNo floral nectar and little useful pollen — the catkins are wind-pollinated and their pollen is collected only incidentally. The honeydew is the entire beekeeping interest, and stating that plainly is more useful than calling the tree bee-friendly.
- Wild carrotDaucus carotaModerate nectar and good pollen, in the most accessible form available — its value is the breadth of the visitor list rather than the volume.
- Purple loosestrifeLythrum salicariaAmong the top nectar producers in the European flora, delivered over a long late-summer window on ground that offers little else.
Guides covering these honeys
- How honey is madeNectar is mostly water. Honey is mostly sugar. Everything interesting about honey happens in the gap between those two sentences.
- Why honeys taste and look so differentEvery honey is around 80% sugar. Everything that distinguishes one from another lives in the remaining fifth.
- Why honey comes in different coloursHoney runs from nearly colourless to almost black, and the colour is set mainly by the plant. It correlates loosely with intensity, more strongly with mineral content, and not at all with quality.
- What is honey?Honey is nectar that bees have concentrated and chemically altered, then sealed in wax. Every property people notice about it — the sweetness, the keeping quality, the setting — follows from that process.
- What makes a honey strongStrong honeys are dark, mineral-rich and usually lower in sweetness than pale ones. Understanding which axis a honey is strong on tells you what to do with it.
- What makes honey expensivePrice tracks scarcity, harvest difficulty and certification cost far more than it tracks quality. Understanding which of those you are paying for is most of the skill in buying honey.
Other culinary use groups
Narrow it down further
- Honey finder
Which honey should I buy for what I actually want to do with it?
- Flavour selector
I like this taste — which honeys have it?
- Honey comparison
How do these honeys actually differ, beyond colour?
- Honey substitute calculator
How much honey do I use instead of sugar, and what else has to change?
- Storage guide
How should I store honey, and what do I do when it sets?