Varietals versus Flavors: The Composition of Honey
Hello Bee Boxers!
It's a beautiful Tuesday morning here at The Bee Box, where we provide a variety of honeys for you to sample and purchase. Among these we have a Local Wildflower, Sage, Orange Blossom and Organic. It's a common question among our customers as to how each variety varies so drastically in flavor and color.
While all of our varieties of honey look and taste very different, it is important to note that they are not artificially flavored in any way. This is the difference between a Varietal Honey and Flavored Honey - Varietal Honeys are unprocessed and composed of nectar that is gathered straight from a specific flower, while Honey Flavors are enhanced with syrups and sugars to give the honey an artificial taste, color and smell.
Here at The Bee Box, we believe in the importance of pure, raw honey being provided directly to the consumer in it's natural state. Our varietal honey is never tampered with, never artificially enhanced and never heat treated. Each unique honey variety gets it's flavor, depth of sweetness and unique color from the specific nectar the bees gather when they forage.
For Example: Our Local Wildflower Honey is a composition of nectar's that the bees have gathered all throughout the Sacramento Valley - it is a true blend of the naturally occurring florals blooming here.
The Local Honey is also darker in hue, and can even appear to have a green tinge in certain lighting!
The Orange Blossom Honey is composed of nectar gathered exclusively from Orange Blossom trees... we do not add any orange flavor into this honey yet some say they can still taste the citrus.
Since the Orange Blossom nectar contains the highest sugar content naturally from the nectar, it is quick to crystallize and tastes more like biting into a piece of candy - it'll definitely satisfy your sweet-tooth! It's light hue is even reminiscent of the fruit of an orange tree.
The Sage Honey, another mono-crop honey, is created by honeybees foraging exclusively on delicate Sage brush flowers.
Light in color, this honey variety looks like a drop of sunshine in your kitchen! It's light, simple sweetness is easy to match with teas, coffee, and cheeseboards too!
Lastly our Organic Honey is an blend, composed of the lush, jungle flowers you can find blooming in Brazil. It's very difficult to certify U.S. honey as Organic - each flower a bee visits must be USDA certified pesticide free! Unfortunately this isn't a common thing to find in the US, however we wanted to ensure we brought the option to you nonetheless!
Organic Honey is very dark, with almost a molasses flavor.
In order to escape potentially consuming artificially flavored honey, just be sure it says it's 100% natural honey on the label; look for keywords such as "raw," "unprocessed," and "all-natural." It's also good to check the country of origin your honey is coming from, any extra ingredients that may be listed on your honey bottle, or to ask the person you are buying from.
