Honey has been consumed by people for thousands of years. Our ancestors obtained honey from wild bees during their food gathering activities. Today, with domesticated bees we can enjoy many variants of honey, depending on the plants that these bees are feeding on. Here are a few examples:
- Acacia honey: Acacia nectar produces honey with remarkable clarity and pureness. It’s among the sweetest variants of honey with subtle, delicate floral taste. Due to higher level of fructose, acacia honey may remain liquid longer compared to other honey variants. The low level of sucrose makes this honey acceptable for diabetics.
- Alfalfa honey: Alfalfa honey is primarily produced in Canada and United States. It has mild floral aroma, subtle spicy profile and light color. Its unique, delicate taste is not too overpowering, making alfalfa honey suitable for baked foods. It’s also an ideal sweetener for tea lovers.
- Avocado honey: Made from the blossoms of California avocado, the honey has dark color and fairly rich buttery flavour. This honey is commonly produced in the United States, Mexico, Australia and various tropical regions. Avocado honey is a good selection for making desserts and baked products.
- Basswood honey: The cream-colored Basswood blossom can found in easily in many parts of North America. Despite its light color, basswood honey has a strong biting and lingering flavour, with pleasant woody scent. It’s perfect for marinades, salad dressings and sweetener for tea.
- Blueberry honey: Blueberry honey is typically made in Michigan and New England. Produced from the white flowers of blueberry plants, this honey variant is known for its blueberry aftertaste, slight tang, light amber color and an overall pleasant flavour. It’s ideal for making baked goods.
- Buckwheat honey: It’s a rare variant of honey, but can usually be found in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and Minnesota. It’s popular among lovers of honey. With its high iron content, buckwheat honey has dark color and full bodied flavour. Compared to light colored honey variants, buckwheat honey is known for its higher level of antioxidant.
- Clover honey: Clover honey is produced in New Zealand and Canada. With its rounded, mild sweet taste, clover honey is ideal for baking and making light sauces. Depending on the location, clover honey can have different color variants, such as amber, light amber and nearly clear white.
- Eucalyptus honey: Eucalyptus is a group of plants with more than 500 distinct species and a lot more hybrids between species. Eucalyptus honey is more commonly found in Australia, but can be found in California as well. This variant is known for the unique herbal and minty flavour. It’s a great sweetener to live up your cup of tea.
- Orange honey: Orange honey is produced from the blossoms of orange tree with fresh citrusy scent, light color and mild flavour.
- Pine tree honey: Also known as forest honey, it’s a variant that’s popular in Greece. It is slightly bitter and not too sweet. However, it’s low in calories and offer higher level of minerals.