Tasting flight builder
Three to five honeys in tasting order, chosen to show one contrast clearly — with why each was chosen and what to notice.
Mild to intense
Intensity is the first thing to settle when choosing a honey for food: it decides what a honey can stand up to.
Step 1: Acacia honey
Chosen for — intensity: delicate
What to notice
- Delicate and floral, buttery, fruity: look for vanilla and clean sugar syrup.
- Short finish.
- A source names beeswax, apple, pear, vanilla — see which you find.
- Colour
- Water white (0-8 mm Pfund)
- Intensity
- Delicate, step 1 of 5, from delicate to intense
- Bitterness
- None, step 1 of 4, from none to pronounced
- Finish
- Short, step 1 of 3, from short to long
Step 2: Rapeseed honey
Chosen for — intensity: mild
What to notice
- Mild and vegetal, buttery: look for clean sweetness and buttery.
- Short finish.
- A source names blackcurrant (in the aftertaste) — see which you find.
- New against the last: green and herbal.
- Colour
- Water white (0-8 mm Pfund)
- Intensity
- Mild, step 2 of 5, from delicate to intense
- Bitterness
- None, step 1 of 4, from none to pronounced
- Finish
- Short, step 1 of 3, from short to long
Step 3: Eucalyptus honey
Chosen for — intensity: moderate
What to notice
- Moderate and woody, caramel, phenolic: look for butterscotch and a cool medicinal note.
- Trace bitterness.
- Medium finish.
- New against the last: woody and resinous; spicy and sharp.
- Colour
- Extra light amber (34-50 mm Pfund)
- Intensity
- Moderate, step 3 of 5, from delicate to intense
- Bitterness
- Trace, step 2 of 4, from none to pronounced
- Finish
- Medium, step 2 of 3, from short to long
Step 4: Dandelion honey
Chosen for — intensity: pronounced
What to notice
- Pronounced and floral, herbaceous, animal: look for sharp floral and hay.
- Trace bitterness.
- Long finish.
- New against the last: floral and fruity; earthy and mineral.
- Colour
- Light amber (50-85 mm Pfund)
- Intensity
- Pronounced, step 4 of 5, from delicate to intense
- Bitterness
- Trace, step 2 of 4, from none to pronounced
- Finish
- Long, step 3 of 3, from short to long
Step 5: Chestnut honey
Chosen for — intensity: intense
What to notice
- Intense and woody, resinous, nutty: look for bitter almond and oak.
- Pronounced bitterness.
- Long finish.
- A source names burnt sugar, smoke, herbs, wormwood — see which you find.
- New against the last: warm and cooked; woody and resinous.
- Colour
- Amber (85-114 mm Pfund)
- Intensity
- Intense, step 5 of 5, from delicate to intense
- Bitterness
- Pronounced, step 4 of 4, from none to pronounced
- Finish
- Long, step 3 of 3, from short to long
Setting up a flight
- Taste at room temperature. Trained honey panels work between 18 and 25 °C; cold honey hides its aroma.*
- Smell first: stir the honey, then sniff it in a wine glass or small cup, which holds the aroma in.*
- Then taste a small amount — panels use 1 to 2 g, under half a teaspoon — and let it dissolve before swallowing.*
- Between honeys, wait a few minutes and rinse with water. A slice of juicy, slightly tart apple (not a bitter one) or plain bread resets the palate.*
- Time the finish. Panels call under 30 seconds short and over five minutes long.*
- Go in the order given. Strong and bitter honeys linger and will flatten anything delicate tasted after them. Use a clean spoon for each.
The International Honey Commission’s panel procedure: Sensory analysis applied to honey: state of the art, Apidologie 2004, Appendix I, §B–C. The steps without a mark are HoneyHQ’s practical advice.
How to taste honey goes further.
What this cannot tell you
It chooses honey types, not jars. Two jars of the same type can taste noticeably different, and the flight is a guide to what to look for rather than a promise of what you will find.
It cannot know what is sold near you. Where a chosen honey is hard to find, the honey pages list similar honeys that hold the same step.
Honeys documented as hazardous, and stingless bee honeys — a different material — are never included.