You can scrape honey off a honeycomb and eat it right there on the spot. It\u2019s ready to go. But because honey is an animal product, any stuff that\u2019s imported has to be heated (pasteurized) before it\u2019s sold in the U.S. This makes it shelf-stable and beautifully clear (there\u2019s no reason it needs to be clear), while also killing any potential bacteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The more the honey is heated, the more straight-up sweet it tastes because the heat cooks off some of honey\u2019s flavor compounds. \u201cGood quality honey has flavor,<\/em>\u201d says honey sommelier and beekeeper C. Marina Marchese<\/a>. \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t just be sweet. You should be able to pick out a minimum of two flavors in it, and a really complex honey<\/a> can have three or four.\u201d \u201cRaw\u201d honey is usually honey that hasn\u2019t been pasteurized, and it has a more dynamic, delicate flavor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All the honey at the grocery store has one thing on the ingredient list: honey. But some might be made from honey sourced from thousands of hives all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which to buy?! And wait a second, what even is<\/em> honey? Is it bee vomit? Marchese says no. I say: kinda. Read below and decide for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gloopy, sweet, naturally antibacterial honey is made by the tireless work of thousands of female<\/em> bees who suck up nectar into a special stomach called the honey sac. They create an assembly line and regurgitate that nectar into each other\u2019s sacs (sorry) until it thickens into honey. The bee nearest the honeycomb then spits it into one of those tiny perfect hexagons. The bees flap their wings and some of the water evaporates out of that honey, thickening it. Then another worker bee caps it off with some beeswax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (If you\u2019re wondering what the male<\/em> bees are up to, they exist only to get it on with the queen. \u201cOnce they have mated,\u201d writes Stephen L. Buchmann<\/strong> in Letters from the Hive: An Intimate History of Bees, Honey, and Humankind<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> \u201cthe males fall off the queen and onto the ground, paralyzed and dying.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your best bet is to find local or regional honey at your market. The mass-produced stuff is usually a cooked-down (pasteurized) blend of hundreds of different honeys and not nearly as delicious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Honey jars usually list one ingredient: honey. But that doesn\u2019t tell you a whole lot about what you\u2019re getting. Here\u2019s how to decode a few other words you might encounter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raw<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is an unregulated term that refers to honey that\u2019s either straight from the honeycomb or minimally heated. It can be cloudy (a sign it hasn\u2019t been overly processed) and retains many of its good-for-you enzymes. Because it\u2019s precious and expensive, save raw honey for when you can taste it front and center: spread on peanut butter toast, drizzled over a pound cake<\/a>, eaten by the spoonful before a run. You might notice a whiff of hay or notes of apricot, things like that. Use the inexpensive clear and runny honey when you\u2019re cooking or baking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfiltered<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another unregulated term. This generally means the honey has been strained to filter out dead bees (RIP) and\/or their wings but not enough to remove other smaller, perfectly edible particles. Between you and me, it\u2019s mostly a marketing term to make people feel like they\u2019re getting a purer product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organic<\/p>\n\n\n\n It turns out it\u2019s extremely hard to make organic honey. (YOU try telling bees to pollinate only certified-organic bushes.) Right now most organic honey comes from Brazil, Mexico, and Hawaii.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imitation <\/p>\n\n\n\n Run away! This is syrup made with fake sweetener. It\u2019s meant for those on sugar-free diets, but the mysterious filler ingredients make it suspect for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Honey\u2019s natural taste depends on what, and where, bees pollinate. (This is different from \u201cflavored honey,\u201d which is honey mixed with added flavors, such as blueberry.) Some common varieties include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep honey in a cool dark place. It will never spoil if kept free of moisture, but it might start to taste off in about two years. Because honey is basically sugar and water, the glucose molecules will separate from the water, causing it to crystallize and look sort of like rock candy. In fact, Marchese tells me that \u201ccrystallization is a sign of quality\u201d\u2014it means you\u2019ve got real-deal honey. When your honey crystallizes, just run the jar under warm water and it\u2019ll reliquify. Marchese spreads her crystallized honey on toast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next time you\u2019re cooking with honey, coat your measuring spoon or cup with a little neutral oil before adding the honey; it will slide right out. Very satisfying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1957<\/a>, Ralph and Luella Gamber decided to package their honey in a plastic bear inspired by Winnie the Pooh and by reality: Bears love snacking on honey, beehives, and<\/em> bees. What was once a side hobby in their Pennsylvanian backyard became a million dollar business called Dutch Gold Honey. They never patented the design, which is why so many other companies have adopted the cute container. (Fun fact: The bear has a name. It\u2019s Nugget.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n M\u0101nuka honey<\/a> is a popular (and pricier) \u201cmonofloral\u201d honey from bees that pollinate the M\u0101nuka tree, grown in Australia and New Zealand. It has a higher concentration of antibacterial properties<\/a> than regular honey. Make sure it\u2019s the real stuff<\/a> by checking to see if it has a UMF (Unique M\u0101nuka Factor), NPA (non-peroxide activity), or MGO (methylglyoxal) rating on the label (each is a different measure of the antimicrobial content). Phewph!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have a honey guy, and his name is Jay. (This is a brag.) Jay, who looks like he wrestles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":1728,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/psdistributor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1727"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/psdistributor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/psdistributor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psdistributor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psdistributor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1727"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/psdistributor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1729,"href":"https:\/\/psdistributor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1727\/revisions\/1729"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psdistributor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/psdistributor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psdistributor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psdistributor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What even is honey?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Where can I buy good honey?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What should I look for (or avoid) on the label?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What determines how honey tastes?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Once I have it, how should I store it?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"This](\"https:\/\/assets.bonappetit.com\/photos\/5bbb7f1e690898717177d6b5\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/fermented-garlic-honey.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow can I stop honey from getting stuck in the measuring cup?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
About that honey bear\u2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s the deal with $$$M\u0101nuka$$$ Honey?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n