What is Honey?
Honey starts as nectar inside a blossom. The honey bee sucks the nectar up and carries it back to their hive where they use their wings to fan the honey and reduce the moisture content. Honey consists of water, various complex sugars, organic acids, enzymes, proteins, amino acids, minerals, and vitamins.
What Is Varietal Honey?
Varietal honey is honey produced from nectar that is primarily collected from a single floral source.
How do you know that a honey is produced from a specific type of flower?
Producing varietal honey comes down to being in the right place, at the right time, with the right equipment, and collecting the honey as soon as the flowers begin to fade. Beekeeping really is an artform.
Some honeys are produced from the blossoms of cultivated crops. These honeys are generally more reliably produced each year. Our honeys from cultivated crops include California Orange Blossom, Northwestern Meadowfoam, Northwestern Blackberry, California Pomegranate, and California Coriander.
Other honeys come from wildly blooming plants that produce nectar for honey bees. These varietals are harder to collect, year to year, source, and ensure their purity. Some of these wild plants include California Eucalyptus, California Sage, Northwestern Fireweed, and California Yellow Star Thistle.
What do varietal honeys taste and smell like?
The best way to experience varietal honey, is to taste a few different types, side by side. Each varietal honey has a unique flavor and aroma.
To help you better understand and explore the range of flavors in varietal honey, we’ve sorted our honeys into the following key flavor profile categories.
About Our Process
How does Z Specialty Food decide which beekeepers to work with?
We aim to partner with beekeepers who take great care of their bees and pay attention to detail when harvesting their honey. Varietal honey beekeepers are artists and scientists – but most importantly, they’re farmers. They are acutely aware of when something is in bloom, the exact timing of when to pull the honey, and have a high priority for a more natural approach to beekeeping choosing non-chemical interventions.
What makes Z Specialty Food’s packing process unique?
Our honey is raw, natural, pure, and 100% honey. Our product is minimally handled so that customers are experiencing it just as nature intended. It is gently warmed in a radiant heated room so that we can move it from the drum to the jar. During this process, the honey naturally settles and we are able to remove any debris.
We are proud to offer our slow food version of honey. Our careful production process may take up to a week to complete and you will taste, smell and see the difference.
Learn More
Is organic the same as local?
Almost all honey on the shelf that is labeled organic is likely coming to the U.S. from overseas. At this time, the USDA does not have a certification program for organic honey.
Packers import organic honey, the USDA accepts each country’s individual organic certification (even thought they do not adhere to an international standard), and often sell this honey at a lower price than local or regionally produced honey. Imported honey must be labeled with the country of origin.
Currently, the only organic honey produced in the U.S. is from Hawaii.
Does honey expire?
Honey will never go bad if stored properly. High heat can burn honey, and excess water and moisture can cause honey to ferment. Honey has been found in Egyptian tombs that is still considered edible after 2,000+ years! Your honey may crystallize over time, but that doesn’t mean you should toss it out! See above for tips on liquefying honey.
Why has my honey crystallized/solidified?
Worry not! Crystallization is a good sign that your honey has been minimally processed, minimally heated, and is still considered raw, unprocessed, and natural! Crystalized honey is great for spreading on toast and will melt in your coffee or tea.
Much of the honey purchased in supermarkets will remain liquid for a long time due to the manner in which it was processed, usually with high heat and microfilters. These methods remove honey’s beneficial pollen, enzymes, and distinct flavor and color characteristics. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that for a product to be labeled honey, it has to contain bee pollen.
The rate of crystallization depends on the amount of fructose in a honey. Some honeys naturally form sugar crystals slower than others. It may take years for our Florida Tupelo and California Black Button Sage honeys to crystallize! On the other side of the spectrum, two of our honeys are sold in a crystallized, creamy form — Hawaiian Creamy Lehua and Creamy California Yellow Star Thistle.
What are some of the health benefits of honey?
We aren’t scientists or doctors but we love to stay up on research about beekeeping and honey. We encourage you to do your own research about honey’s health benefits. Here are a few scientifically proven benefits from eating (or using) raw and natural honey:
- Contains traces of pollen, propolis, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and amino acids that support overall health and wellness
- Rich in antioxidants which help reduce inflammation
- Soothes sore throats
- Contains polyphenol which can aid in digestion
- Promotes rapid healing of burns and some wounds. All pure honeys are antibacterial and have anti-oxidants – some more than others. In addition, honey emits a very low level of hydrogen peroxide which helps speed the healing process.