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.
33 of 265 honeys carry malty
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 (18)
- Woody (16)
- Mineral and saline (15)
- Molasses and treacle (15)
- Resinous (13)
- Fruity (5)
- Phenolic and medicinal (5)
- Smoky (5)
- Nutty (3)
- Animal and barnyard (2)
- Buttery (2)
All 33 honeys
In catalogue order. Nothing here is ranked — no honey is a better answer than another until you say what you want it for.
- Messmate honeyStrong and resinous with a malty depth and a faintly medicinal eucalypt lift — assertive and unmistakably Australian.ResinousMaltyCaramelPhenolic and medicinal
- Bloodwood honeyStrong and malty with a resinous depth and a distinct woody astringency — one of the more assertive Australian honeys.MaltyResinousWoodyCaramel
- Beech honeydew honeyRich 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.MaltyResinousMineral and salineMolasses and treacle
- Bottlebrush honeyStrong and malty with a resinous depth and a faint medicinal lift — assertive, and a surprise to anyone who expects a garden shrub to make a mild honey.MaltyResinousCaramel
- Rewarewa honeyMalty and burnt-caramel with a dry astringent finish — closer to a dark ale than to a floral honey.MaltyCaramelWoody
- Macadamia honeyMalty and nutty with a roasted depth and a butterscotch base — one of the few honeys that genuinely tastes like the crop it came from.NuttyMaltyCaramel
- 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
- Bamboo honeyRich and buttery with a distinct tang, frequently compared with a lighter buckwheat — malty and slightly sharp rather than sweetly floral.MaltyCaramelButteryFruity
- 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
- Vosges fir honeyBalsamic and malty with a resinous woody depth and a marked lack of sweetness — closer to treacle and pine resin than to anything floral.ResinousMaltyWoodyMineral and saline
- Tree heath honeyStrong, malty and slightly bitter, with a burnt-caramel depth and a woody finish — assertive in a way that divides opinion sharply.CaramelMaltyPhenolic and medicinalWoody
- Sycamore honeydew honeyMalty and mildly sweet with a savoury, faintly smoky depth and a mineral finish — less resinous than the conifer honeydews and more caramelised.MaltyMineral and salineMolasses and treacleWoody
- Buckwheat honeyMalt, molasses and wet straw, with a savoury, almost animal depth. The most polarising honey in general production.MaltyMolasses and treacleAnimal and barnyardMineral and saline
- Forest honeydew honeyResinous, malty and mineral, with far less sweetness than its darkness suggests. Closer to treacle and pine forest than to anything floral.ResinousMaltyMineral and salineWoodyMolasses and treacleNutty
- Jarrah honeyDark, malty and caramelised, with a coffee-and-treacle depth and much less of the medicinal edge a comparably dark honey usually carries.CaramelMaltyMolasses and treacleWoody
- Pine honeydew honeyResinous, malty and markedly less sweet than floral honey, with a woody, slightly salty depth and no floral character at all.ResinousWoodyMaltyMineral and saline
- Tulip poplar honeyDark, buttery and malty with a smoky caramel depth and much less bitterness than its colour suggests.MaltyCaramelSmokyButtery
- Silver fir honeyMalty, resinous and barely sweet, with a balsamic depth and a long woody finish. One of the least sugary honeys there is.ResinousMaltyWoodyMineral and salineCaramel
- Spruce honeydew honeyMalty and caramelised with a woody depth and restrained sweetness — warmer and less balsamic than fir honeydew.MaltyWoodyMineral and salineCaramelResinous
- Carob honeyDark, malty and distinctly savoury with a fermented, almost cheesy note that people either find fascinating or cannot get past.Molasses and treacleAnimal and barnyardMaltyMineral and saline
- Banksia honeyStrong, malty and savoury with a burnt-caramel depth and a distinctly salty-mineral edge.MaltyMineral and salineMolasses and treacleSmoky
- 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
- Tochi honeyMalty and rich with a distinct woody astringency and a long dry finish — assertive without being harsh, and closer to a dark forest honey than to a blossom one.MaltyWoodyCaramelPhenolic and medicinal
- 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
- Ethiopian red honeyStrong and warm with a malty depth, a resinous eucalyptus lift and a faint smokiness from traditional harvesting — an assertive honey that stands up to fermentation.CaramelResinousMaltySmoky
- Mopane honeyDark and malty with a savoury mineral depth and a faintly smoky finish — closer to a European forest honeydew than to an African blossom honey.MaltyMineral and salineMolasses and treacleSmoky
- Tamarisk honeyDark and mineral with a malty depth and a distinct faint saltiness that reflects the ground — an unusual and genuinely savoury honey.Mineral and salineMaltyMolasses and treacle
- Greek erica honeyDark, malty and faintly bitter, with dried fig and caramel behind it. A robust honey and a distinctly autumnal one.MaltyCaramelWoodyPhenolic and medicinal
- Holm oak honeydew honeyDark, 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.Mineral and salineMaltyMolasses and treacleWoody
- Talh honeyDark, thick and savoury-sweet, with dried fruit and molasses over a caramel depth. Nothing about it suggests the honey Europe calls acacia.Molasses and treacleMaltyCaramelWoody
- Mangium honeyDark, malty and lightly resinous, with a savoury depth that reads as honeydew rather than as blossom.MaltyResinousMolasses and treacleMineral and saline
- Stringybark honeyFull and malty with a clean eucalypt aromatic edge and a slightly dry finish. A robust everyday honey by Australian standards.MaltyCaramelResinousWoody
- Swamp mahogany honeyStrong, malty and resinous with a lingering bitterness. One of the more challenging Australian honeys and a good one.MaltyResinousMolasses and treaclePhenolic and medicinal
- 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