While aimlessly walking the streets of Savannah during a recent get-away, my husband and I saw a storefront that intrigued us– the Savannah Bee Company. We walked in to find what is truly the Mecca of honey. A honey tasting counter, beauty products made with honey, honey for drinks, honey for eating, even a mini-theater where you can watch a movie about, you guessed it– honey.

Never before this day did I think twice about honey. Occassionaly we’d run out of honey in our pantry, and the next time I went grocery shopping I’d pick up a little plastic bear full of it. That was the extent to which honey ever crossed my mind. But suddenly being in this storefront where clearly these people were IN TO their honey, made me want to explore all things honey.

The Savannah Bee Company’s motto is “redefining honey” and boy do they. Cheese honey, grilling honey, tea honey, raw honeycomb, orange blossom honey, acacia honey, well you get where I’m going with this. There’s truly a honey for every food experience, and pairing the right one to the right food will change how you too think about honey.

As Savannah Bee Company points out: “Although all honey is created the same way, not all honey is created equal. The finest honeys in the world are gathered from a single type of flower. These honeys are called “monofloral honey” or “varietal honey.” Without the influence of other flower nectars, varietal honey expresses the unique characteristics of the blossom in color, clarity, texture, flavor, and sugar composition.”

Sounds like they’re talking about wine if you didn’t know better, doesn’t it? And that’s just my point. There’s a lot to consider when selecting honey. Me buying the little plastic bear of honey is like buying Boone’s Farm wine– it’ll take care of business but is a far cry from delicious.

Let’s take a deeper look in to a couple of Savannah Bee Company’s honeys to better demonstrate the potential difference between honey flavor profiles you could experience. You’ll notice how different the pairing suggestions are from one to the next.  “Orange Blossom honey explodes with citrus flavor. Floral and fruity, this sunshine-soaked Florida honey is perfect baked into Baklava, stirred into tangy Greek-style yogurt, or drizzled over buttery French Toast.” Compare that sweet flavor profile to their more savory Acacia honey, “Called the “moonflower honey” in Italy, Savannah Bee Company Acacia Honey is produced in the Southern Italian Alps. It has a clean, light, vanilla taste and is delicate on the palate. This special honey is our most densely textured, but so light in color that the official color grade is termed “Water White.” Try a spoonful in your evening espresso or drizzled over freshly baked whole wheat bread.”

My ultimate words of advice? Take a little extra time when shopping for honey and consider what you’re going to pair it with. Maybe even set yourself up a little honey tasting with friends (cheese, honey, figs, wine anyone?). Learn about honey. Allow yourself to become a honey snob, it turns out it’s kind of fun.

Resources

• National Honey Board
• Bee Culture: The Magazine of American Beekeeping 
• American Beekeeping Federation 
• Honey Bee News
• Honey recipes
• Carlie’s fig, cheese and honey recipe that is kinda to die for, if I say so myself, featured here on The Tasteful Life

Related posts:

1. Roasted Figs with Goat Cheese and Honey
2. A Flower Box Centerpiece