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NZ Honey2021-10-04T12:18:19+13:00

New Zealand honeys are as wonderfully diverse and unique as the native trees and flowers they are made from.  Our hard-working honeybees forage amongst the flowers of kāmahi, mānuka, pōhutukawa, rewarewa and rātā to produce high-quality, monofloral honeys with distinctive flavour profiles.  Not only do flavours differ across honey types, but there are also regional varieties caused by differences in climate, soil types and the natural diversity of floral types across New Zealand.

Honey is a wonderfully versatile food, equally at home in sweet treats and BBQ marinades, drizzled over roast vegetables, or spread on toast. It can be sold in liquid form or creamed, and comes in a wide array of golden tones.   Generally, the paler the honey, the milder the flavour profile.  Honey can be monofloral – predominantly made from one type of nectar, or multifloral – made from a variety of nectar sources.

Clover Honey

Clover is pale gold in colour and has the clean, mild, traditional flavour that people associate with the honeys of childhood.  Its creamed form is known for having‘fudge-like’ characteristics.  Clover honey is a traditional farm honey from both the North and South Island.

Kāmahi

Kāmahi is pale, lemon-yellow in colour and has a rich, sweet taste with a buttery finish. It pairs well with camembert, washed rind cheeses or goat’s feta. It works well as a base for sweet sauces or as a sweetener in spicy dishes. Kāmahi is mostly produced on the West Coast of the South Island.

Kānuka

A closely related by lesser known relative of mānuka, kānuka honey is similar in both colour and flavour.  It has earthy bush notes and a toffee-type finish.

Mānuka

Mānuka can range in colour from dark cream to dark brown and it has a distinctive earthy mineral flavour.  It has also been described as woody or nutty in taste, with toffee notes.

Pōhutukawa

Made from New Zealand’s famed Christmas tree, creamed pōhutukawa honey is off-white in colour with a clean, floral taste profile and butterscotch notes.  Trees in coastal regions, like pōhutukawa, can sometimes produce honey with a slightly salty taste.

Rātā

Rātā honey is pale cream in colour and one of New Zealand’s sweetest honeys.  It has a lime flavour profile, with some detecting ‘salty’ flavour notes.

Rewarewa

Made from the New Zealand honey suckle flower, Rewarewa is light amber in colour with hints of orange.  It has complex herbaceous flavours and a rich, malty taste which makes it a great natural sweetener for teas.

Tāwari

Deep gold to orange in colour, this honey is described as tasting like rosehip syrup or very sweet golden syrup.  It has a rich texture and has been described as tasting like white chocolate melting off the tongue.  It makes a delicious topping for pancakes or ice cream.

Honeydew

Honeydew honey is made from nectar from insects.  It is medium-dark amber in colour and tastes complex and treacly.  Some have described its flavour as being like ‘Christmas cake’.  Honeydew honey is predominantly sourced from West Coast beech forests.

Thyme

Produced from the flowers of the thyme herb in Central Otago, this is a pale, amber honey, with a very strong, distinctive herbal taste.  This honey works well drizzled over roast vegetables, in vinaigrettes or stirred into pumpkin soup.

Recipes

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