Tajinaste honey

Flavour and aroma

Aroma

light florals, fresh hay, faint mineral

Flavour

soft floral, clean sweetness, faint mineral

Finish

Short and clean.

Flavour character

• Floral and fruity — floral
• Earthy and mineral — mineral and saline

Colour, texture and crystallisation

Colour

1. Water white0–8 mm — this honey
2. Extra white8–17 mm — this honey
3. White17–34 mm — this honey
4. Extra light amber34–50 mm — this honey
5. Light amber50–85 mm
6. Amber85–114 mm
7. Dark amber114+ mm

Very pale, near water-white with a faint amber cast.

On setting: Sets slowly to a fine pale cream.

Texture

Runny; Thick but pourable; Soft set

Crystallisation

Slow, step 2 of 5, from very slow to very fast

Slow — months before it starts to granulate; sets with a fine crystal.

Slow and fine, consistent with the echium honeys generally — the New Zealand blue borage honey behaves the same way for the same reason.

Typical composition

Moisture

14–17.5% (typically 15.5%)

Fructose

37–43% (typically 40%)

Glucose

28–34% (typically 31%)

pH

3.4–4.2 (typically 3.8)

Electrical conductivity

0.1–0.4 mS/cm (typically 0.2 mS/cm)

These are typical ranges assembled across published work, not measurements of a specific honey.

What these mean: the sugars and the ratio · moisture · conductivity · how each is measured

Protected versions and what they require

One protected name sells this honey type under a registered specification. Each sets limits a jar must meet to carry the name — they describe that protected honey, not every tajinaste honey.

Where it comes from

Floral source

Echium species endemic to the Canary Islands, principally Echium wildpretii on Tenerife and Echium webbii on La Palma.

Origins

The Canary Islands, principally Tenerife and La Palma, at altitude on volcanic slopes.

Origin pages

• The Canary Islands

Resolved from both directions — origins this honey names, and origins that name it.

Origin protection

Covered by the Miel de Tenerife protected designation, which recognises several island floral types including tajinaste.

Typical harvest

May to July (northern hemisphere)

A short high-altitude window on the volcanic slopes.

A typical window for the honey type, HoneyHQ synthesis — not a calendar for any one place.

The bees

The Canary black bee is a distinct local population of the western honey bee, and La Palma in particular maintains it in genetic isolation with restrictions on importing queens — one of the few places in Europe where such protection is enforced.

Usual processing

Raw, Coarsely strained, Spun (centrifugally extracted)

Production is small, altitude-dependent and vulnerable to fire — the 2021 La Palma eruption and repeated Tenerife fires have both affected it directly.

What to do with it

A delicate eating honey. Its subtlety is entirely lost in cooking or in anything strongly flavoured.

At the tableSpreadingDessertsIn hot drinks

Pairings

• Fresh goat's cheese

  The Canary pairing, and both are mild enough to meet.

• Gofio and plain breads

  A local staple and a mild honey.

• Fresh tropical fruit

  Delicate enough to let the fruit lead.

Similar honeys and substitutes

Three different questions with different answers: a honey that tastes alike can behave differently in a recipe, and the same set texture says nothing about flavour. Each list is chosen from the recorded fields that matter to its question — and, where tasting panels or specifications described both honeys, the terms they share — and every suggestion says which, and what will be different. Compare it side by side or build a tasting flight.

History and traditional use

The giant echiums are among the best-known endemic plants of the Canaries and are a symbol of Teide National Park, which makes their honey a tourist product as much as a local one.

Claims about this honey