Flavour selector
Start from a flavour you already like and work outwards to the honeys that carry it — and to the families that keep turning up alongside it.
69 of 265 honeys carry fruity
Where a source names pear
Only honeys whose trained panel or official specification uses this exact term. A honey in the fruity family has not thereby been found to taste of it.
- Acacia honey — official honey specification: “a fruity aroma of apples and pears”
What tends to come with it
Families that appear on the same records, commonest first. This is a count of co-occurrences in the catalogue, not a claim that the two tastes resemble each other — it answers “if you like this, what else is usually in the jar”.
- Caramel (34)
- Floral (32)
- Resinous (17)
- Citrus (11)
- Woody (9)
- Molasses and treacle (8)
- Spicy (8)
- Smoky (6)
- Malty (5)
- Nutty (5)
- Phenolic and medicinal (5)
- Buttery (4)
- Herbaceous (3)
- Mineral and saline (3)
- Vegetal (2)
- Waxy (2)
- Animal and barnyard (1)
All 69 honeys
In catalogue order. Nothing here is ranked — no honey is a better answer than another until you say what you want it for.
- Acacia honeyClean, light and sweet with almost nothing in the way. The honey to reach for when you want sweetness without a flavour opinion.FloralButteryFruityWaxy
- Orange blossom honeyUnmistakably floral and citrus-scented — orange blossom in the glass, with the fruit itself somewhere behind it.FloralCitrusFruity
- Lavender honeyOvertly perfumed — lavender flower, warm hay and a soft fruity sweetness underneath. Aromatic in a way most honeys are not.FloralHerbaceousFruity
- Tupelo honeyButtery and clean with a pear-and-green-apple lift, and a long soft finish that never turns cloying.FruityButteryFloral
- Raspberry honeyDelicate and lightly fruity with a clean bright acidity — one of the few honeys where a taster unprompted names the right fruit.FruityFloral
- Apple blossom honeyDelicate and lightly fruity with a soft marzipan note and a clean finish — recognisably spring, and gone if you are not paying attention.FloralFruityNutty
- Cherry blossom honeyMarzipan first, then a light stone-fruit sweetness — the almond note is the defining character and it is unmistakable.NuttyFloralFruity
- Lemon blossom honeyBright, sharply citrus and clean — lemon zest and blossom rather than the softer neroli of orange blossom, with a genuine acidity behind it.CitrusFloralFruity
- Brazilian pepper honeyWarm and peppery with a distinct resinous spice and a faint tartness — genuinely reminiscent of the pink peppercorns the plant produces.SpicyResinousFruity
- Campanilla honeyLight and clean with a soft floral sweetness and a faint tropical fruit note — approachable and pleasant rather than distinctive.FloralFruity
- Jataí honeySharply acidic and fruity with a fermented tang — closer to a sharp fruit syrup than to what most people expect honey to taste like.FruityCitrusFloral
- Persimmon honeyRich and fruity with a dried-date depth and a warm caramel base — one of the more distinctive minor American varietals and genuinely reminiscent of the ripe fruit.FruityCaramelSpicy
- Sugarbag honeySharply tangy and fruity with a resinous edge — often described as lemon-and-caramel, and quite unlike honey bee honey in every respect.CitrusResinousFruityCaramel
- Wildflower honeyVaries with the season and the landscape. Pale spring crops are floral and light; late-summer crops darker, fruitier and stronger.FloralFruityCaramelWaxy
- Blueberry honeyTangy and lightly fruity with a green, slightly astringent edge — recognisably related to the berry without tasting of jam.FruityCaramelVegetal
- Blackberry honeyWarm, mellow and gently fruity, with a soft jammy note and a hint of the fruit without any of its sharpness.FruityCaramelFloral
- Star thistle honeyLight and clean with a distinct anise-and-cinnamon lift and a fruity sweetness underneath. Delicate but not blank.SpicyFruityFloral
- Longan honeyIntensely aromatic — caramel, dried tropical fruit and a distinctive musky floral note that is unlike anything in the European catalogue.CaramelFruityFloralSpicy
- Lychee honeyDelicately floral with a distinct rose-and-lychee perfume, and a clean sweetness underneath that keeps it from being heavy.FloralFruity
- Cranberry honeyTart and fruity with a genuine cranberry acidity — one of very few honeys where sourness is a real part of the profile.FruityCaramel
- Bell heather honeyRich, warm and fruity with a caramel base and a distinct red-fruit note — sweeter and rounder than ling heather, and without its smoky bitterness.FruityCaramelMineral and saline
- Rockrose honeyBalsamic and resinous with a warm amber sweetness underneath — it smells of incense and hot scrubland, and tastes considerably less sweet than its colour suggests.ResinousWoodyFruitySmoky
- Bilberry honeyTangy and berry-forward over a caramel base, with a green astringency and a genuine fruit acidity.FruityCaramelWoody
- Karri honeyRich and layered — malt and dark caramel with a dried-fruit depth and a long warm finish. The most complex of the Western Australian honeys.MaltyCaramelFruityWoody
- Ber honeyWarm and rich with dried dates and caramel, and a faint herbal bitterness on the finish — recognisably a Ziziphus honey, and lighter than Yemeni sidr.CaramelFruitySpicy
- Quillay honeyAromatic and warm with dried fruit and a resinous edge, and a faint clean bitterness that keeps it from being merely sweet.FruityResinousCaramel
- Melipona honeyTart, complex and only moderately sweet — a distinct acidic tang over a floral base, closer to a fermented fruit drink than to honey bee honey.FruityCitrusResinous
- Balsam honeyMild and clean with a light pear-drop fruitiness and a soft floral finish — considerably gentler than its late-season timing suggests.FruityFloral
- Bamboo honeyRich and buttery with a distinct tang, frequently compared with a lighter buckwheat — malty and slightly sharp rather than sweetly floral.MaltyCaramelButteryFruity
- Ohia lehua honeyDelicate and clean with a distinct fresh-butter quality and a light floral lift — one of the mildest honeys with genuine character rather than none.ButteryFloralFruity
- Metcalfa honeydew honeyModerately sweet with a distinct fig and dried-fruit character over a malty base — noticeably fruitier than the conifer honeydews and quite unlike them.MaltyFruityMineral and salineMolasses and treacle
- Kelulut honeyDistinctly 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.FruityCitrusResinous
- Lingonberry honeyDelicate and clean with a distinct tart berry note and a fresh acidity — one of the few honeys that genuinely tastes of the fruit its plant produces.FruityFloralCitrus
- Thyme honeyWarm, herbal and savoury — thyme and dry stone, with a peppery lift and a very long finish.HerbaceousSpicyResinousFruity
- Sidr honeyRich, dark and layered — caramel and dried fruit first, then a faintly medicinal bitterness and a long savoury finish. Complex in a way few honeys are.CaramelFruitySpicyPhenolic and medicinal
- Tualang honeySharply sour and dark, with a fermented-fruit tang over a molasses base — genuinely unlike any temperate honey, and an acquired taste.FruityMolasses and treacleSmokyPhenolic and medicinal
- Jamun honeyDark, tannic and astringent with a dried-fruit depth and a dry finish — noticeably less sweet than most honeys of similar colour.FruitySpicyMolasses and treacleWoody
- Chinese jujube honeyRich and dark with dried dates and burnt caramel, and a genuine bitterness on the finish that sets it apart from its Middle Eastern relatives.CaramelFruityPhenolic and medicinalMolasses and treacle
- Sundarbans mangrove honeyLight, tangy and faintly saline with a fresh floral character — considerably more delicate than its dramatic provenance would suggest.FloralMineral and salineFruity
- Goji honeyLight and clean with a soft red-fruit note and a faint herbal edge — mildly fruity rather than obviously berry-like.FruityFloral
- Loquat honeyRich and malty with a distinct almond-marzipan note over dark caramel — one of the more aromatic East Asian honeys and far stronger than its pale-fruited source suggests.NuttyCaramelFruityMalty
- Himalayan forest honeyComplex and warm, with a herbal and faintly smoky character reflecting both the flora and the traditional processing — spring honey is lighter and more floral, autumn honey darker and more resinous.HerbaceousCaramelSmokyFruity
- Mahua honeyHeavy 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.Molasses and treacleMaltyFruitySmoky
- Samar honeyStrong and resinous with a warm caramelised depth and a distinct dry-country character — more assertive than sidr and less floral.ResinousCaramelFruity
- Mango blossom honeyWarm and fruity with a distinct tropical-stone-fruit note and a faint resinous edge — one of the honeys that does taste recognisably of its tree's fruit, though more faintly than people expect.FruityFloralResinous
- Miombo honeyRich and warm with a distinct woody, faintly smoky depth and a caramelised sweetness — the smoke comes partly from the harvest method and partly from the woodland itself.CaramelSmokyWoodyFruity
- Baobab honeyWarm and mildly tangy with a distinct citrus-sherbet lift over caramel — brighter and more acidic than most African honeys and genuinely reminiscent of the tree's fruit.CitrusCaramelFruity
- Cashew honeyTangy and resinous with a warm caramel base and a faintly astringent finish — assertive and quite unlike the mild nut it comes from.FruityResinousCaramel
- Kudzu honeyGrape, and unmistakably so — the aroma people describe as bubblegum, cola or purple sweets, over a mild honey body that does far less work than the smell promises.FruityFloralCaramel
- Alpine rose honeyGrayanotoxin advisoryDelicate and short: a faint woody, floral and fresh-fruit aroma, medium sweetness, low acidity and no bitterness.FloralWoodyFruity
- Pear blossom honeyVery light and faintly green, with a clean sweetness and almost nothing behind it. Notable chiefly for how hard it is to get.VegetalFloralFruity
- Rowan honeyAmber, tart and faintly bitter, with a red-fruit note that echoes the berries the tree is better known for.FruityCaramelNutty
- Plum blossom honeyLight, sweet and gently almondy, with a soft fruit note behind it. An easy honey and a short-lived one.FloralNuttyFruity
- Ailanthus honeyIntensely aromatic — muscat grape and elderflower with a medicinal edge. It divides opinion more sharply than any other European honey.FruityFloralPhenolic and medicinal
- Sea buckthorn honeySharp and fruity where berry juice has been added, and an ordinary golden coastal honey where it has not. The two are quite different products under one name.FruityCitrusCaramel
- Tamarind honeyAmber, warm and distinctly tart, with a caramel body and a sour-fruit edge that does echo the tamarind pod.FruityCaramelMolasses and treacle
- Durian honeyPungent, savoury and unmistakably related to the fruit — a sulphurous undertone over dark caramel. It divides opinion as sharply as durian itself.Animal and barnyardMolasses and treacleFruityCaramel
- Rambutan honeySoft, floral and faintly muscat — closer to lychee honey than to anything temperate, and gentler than most tropical honeys.FloralFruityCaramel
- Combretum honeyWarm and caramel-led with a dried-fruit depth and a faint woody dryness. A robust everyday honey rather than a delicate one.CaramelFruityWoody
- Madagascar litchi honeyOvertly aromatic — muscat grape and rose over a light caramel body. One of the more perfumed honeys in the catalogue.FloralFruityCaramel
- Spanish needle honeyLight, mildly fruity and clean. An easy, agreeable honey rather than a dramatic one, which is exactly what an all-year background source produces.FloralFruityCaramel
- Sumac honeyTart, dark and lightly resinous, with a sour-fruit edge unusual in an American honey and a definite tannic dryness.FruityResinousWoodyMolasses and treacle
- Caatinga honeyWarm, resinous and floral at once, with real complexity from a flora that exists nowhere else. Variability is inherent rather than a defect.CaramelResinousFruityFloral
- Jandaíra honeyFluid, sharply acidic and aromatic — closer to a fruit vinegar than to honey as most people know it. That acidity is normal rather than spoilage.FruityCitrusResinous
- Chañar honeyWarm and caramel-led with a distinct sweet resinous note — recognisably related to the pod syrup the same tree produces.CaramelResinousFruity
- Uruçu honeyFluid, sharply acidic and floral — closer to a fruit syrup than to honey as most people know it, and the acidity is normal rather than spoilage.FruityCitrusFloralResinous
- Mandaçaia honeySofter and rounder than the northeastern stingless honeys — still acidic, but with more caramel behind it and less citrus sharpness.FruityCaramelFloral
- Scaptotrigona honeySharp, resinous and distinctly woody, with a fermented-fruit edge. Among the more challenging stingless honeys and one of the most prized within its region.ResinousFruityWoodyPhenolic and medicinal
- African stingless bee honeySharp, fruity and faintly smoky, with the acidity common to all stingless bee honey. Descriptions vary widely because the species and the flora both do.FruityResinousSmokyCaramel
- Flavour families are editorial groupings, and the boundaries between them are matters of judgement rather than fact.
- It does not model intensity of a family, only its presence — a honey with a trace of smoke and one dominated by it both match 'smoky'.
- Adjacency is co-occurrence in this catalogue, not similarity of taste. It answers what tends to be in the jar together, which is a different question from what tastes alike.
- The map shifts as the catalogue grows, which is correct and does mean a link shared today may show slightly different neighbours next year.
The vocabulary under each family
HoneyHQ’s six groups and eighteen families, with the reference terms the International Honey Commission’s trained panels use and the terms official honey specifications add. A term is a link only where a source has named it in a honey in the catalogue; the rest are vocabulary, shown so you can see what the family covers.
Floral and fruity
- Floral
- orange blossom
- violet
- rose
- hyacinth
- Fruity
- pear
- apple
- red fruit
- blackcurrant
- coconut
- apricot
- exotic fruit
- dates
- prunes
- figs
- raisins
- candied fruit
- dried fruit
- overripe apple
- Citrus
- lemon
- orange
- grapefruit
Green and herbal
Warm and cooked
Woody and resinous
- Resinous
- cedar
- pine resin
- propolis
- fresh conifer wood
- spruce-tip syrup
- balsamic
- Woody
- leafy wood
- dust
- Smoky
Spicy and sharp
- Spicy
- clove
- nutmeg
- coffee
- Phenolic and medicinal
- styrene
- paint
- solvent
- household soap
- vitamin b1
Earthy and mineral
- Mineral and saline
- damp cloth
- humus
- stuffy
- Waxy
- Animal and barnyard
- piquant cheese
- vinegar
- cheese
- perspiration
- cowshed
- cat urine