Monofloral honey
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Monofloral honey is a type of honey which has a high value in the marketplace because it has a distinctive flavor or other attribute due to its being predominantly from the nectar of one plant species. While all honeys have some medicinal value, manuka honey from New Zealand has been shown to have higher antibacterial activity than other tested honeys. Tupelo honey from the southeastern United States is prized because it is extremely slow to crystallize. In northern Florida, an independent testing laboratory certifies the purity of local tupelo honey, which greatly increases its value.
While there may never be an absolute monofloral type, some honeys are relatively pure due to the prodigious nectar production of a particular species, such as citrus (Orange blossom honey), or there may be little else in bloom at the time.
Beekeepers learn the predominant nectar sources of their region, and often plan harvests to keep especially fine ones separate. For example, in the southern Appalachians sourwood honey, from a small tree that blooms late is highly regarded. Beekeepers try to remove the previously produced dark and strong flavored tulip poplar honey, just before the sourwood bloom, so the lighter sourwood is not contaminated. During sourwood bloom, there is little else for the bees to forage.
Monofloral honeys are also kept in separate tanks and labeled separately so as to command a premium price.
[edit] Some types of monofloral honey
- Acacia In Eastern North America and Europe acacia honey is actually from a false acacia, Robinia pseudoacacia, commonly known as black locust, a tree native to eastern North America and widely planted in Europe. The honey in the US is sometimes labeled "American Acacia." Its colour ranges from light yellow to almost colourless. It is sweet and mellow-flavored with a lower acid content than other honeys. Its high fructose content means that it can stay liquid for a long time. The main producers are Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania but it is also found in Canada, China, France and Italy.
- Alfalfa Alfalfa does not commonly come on the market as a monofloral. It is unique in that it appears to be thin and unripe, even when it actually has been ripened to the proper water content (about 17-18%). It is white, and nearly flavorless.
- Apple blossom honey is produced mainly in the United Kingdom.
- Avocado Avocado honey is dark and fairly strong flavored. It's an acquired taste.
- Basswood Lime (linden) blossom (Tilia americana) makes a water-white honey with a strong "bite" that makes it unpleasant as a monofloral honey. However, when mixed with clover or another mild-flavored honey, it becomes agreeably minty in taste. Often pale, although its colouring depends on the time of collection. It has a very strong perfume and pleasant taste. It is produced in China, Hungary, Poland and the United Kingdom.
- Buckwheat Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) honey is very dark and fairly strong tasting. Persons who have never tasted it often dislike the flavor; however many Americans have been brought up on buckwheat honey. Buckwheat was an important crop in the US from about 1930 to the 1960s, which has since faded from use, and buckwheat honey has become scarce in the US. It is still a common honey in China and Russia. Buckwheat is often blended to make a milder flavored honey, and many consumers prefer the cut version without realizing that it is cut. A wild buckwheat Polygonum cuspidatum from a close kin that has become established in the US is naturally more mild than the familiar buckwheat, and sometimes is used to blend with buckwheat, or sold separately as a monofloral called "bamboo."
- Cherry blossom. Produced in the United Kingdom.
- Chestnut. Yellowish-brown in colour, it has the highest mineral content of all honeys. It has the perfume of the chestnut flower and an unique sweet-bitter aftertaste.
- Clover Genuine monofloral clover is rare, as most light, mild-flavored honeys are mixed and called clover for the retail trade. Pure monofloral clover is tangy and delicate in flavor, being water white in color. The main producers are Canada and New Zealand.
- Eucalyptus Common in Australia, monofloral Eucalypt honeys include Yellow Box, Blue Gum, River Red Gum, Ironbark and Stringybark. Tasmanian Leatherwood honey is considered a delicacy for its unique flavour.
- Fireweed Fireweed honey is very light and mild flavored. It is produced in great quantities in some areas of western Canada and northwestern US and is considered a premium monofloral.
- Goldenrod Plants of the genus Solidago sometimes produce large quantities of nectar. With acid soil, adequate moisture and good foraging weather during the autumn bloom, bees can make large quantities of honey from it. Much of it is sold for bakery use, but in some areas it has become a favored monofloral honey with a distinctive spicy taste. Goldenrod is unusual in that the unripe honey has a putrid smell until the bees have finished ripening it. Bears have been known to follow the odor upwind during goldenrod bloom to find hives that they can raid.
- Hawthorn Produced in the United Kingdom.
- Heather Produced mainly in the United Kingdom.
- Kamahi Honey Kamahi is a common tree found in many of New Zealand's rugged native forests and is an excellent source of honey. The creamy coloured flowers are very attractive to bees and bloom in abundance throughout the Spring producing a light amber honey with a distinctive, full-bodied complexity of flavour preferred by many honey connoisseurs.
- Lavender Produced mainly in France and Spain.
- Leatherwood The Tasmanian Leatherwood (Eucryphia lucida) produces a strong spicy flavour. It is generally considered an acquired taste, and many people find it too strong in the unblended form.
- Lehua Probably the rarest Hawaiian Honey. Lehua Honey is made from the Lehua blossoms of the Ohia tree. Lehua Honey is liquid when harvested from the hives but it turns into a creamed sturdy Honey after a couple of weeks. Very spreadable with a wonderful clean, gentle and fruity flavor. It is exceptionally good.
- Macadamia Dark slightly molasses-flavoured honey.
- Mesquite In the Southwestern U.S., the mesquite tree is prized for its sweet-smoky smelling wood, primarily used in barbecues and meat smokers. The honey produced from its flowers also has this distinctive smoky aroma and flavor, though quite a bit more subtle, and also has some creamy citrus flavors.
- Nodding Thistle Honey Found extensively throughout New Zealand's Canterbury and Otago Provinces in the South Island and Hawkes Bay in the North Island, Nodding Thistle flowers in late summer. It has a brilliant large mauve head, characteristic of thistles, and produces a magnificent light coloured honey offering a perfumed floral bouquet and subtle flavour - perfect for those who like a mild honey.
- Orange blossom honey is actually made from mixed citrus nectars. The flavor has a distinct orange nuance, however. It is a thick, exceptionally sweet honey with strong floral notes. It ranges from light amber to water white, the lighter color and milder flavor coming in years when there is a large flow and the honey is little contaminated by other nectars. The main producers are France, Mexico and Spain.
- Poplar Liriodendron tulipifera is actually not a poplar, but honey called "poplar" is a favorite native monofloral honey of the Southern Appalachians. In mason jars it looks black, but when held to the light it looks reddish. It is strong flavored, liked by people familiar with it from childhood, but not usually liked by those tasting it for the first time.
- Raspberry Honey is availiable in the United States in some areas where raspberries are grown commercially.
- Rata Honey Southern Rata is one of several species of Rata found in New Zealand but is the one that most regularly produces a honey crop, although even this honey is sometimes in very short supply. Anyone who has seen the Rata flowering in January in the Otira Gorge west of Christchurch cannot forget the sight of this brilliant red carpet covering the mountains. This area produces the purest Rata honey, very white in colour with a subtle, distinctive flavour, mild and rich - but not sweet, almost salty, considered by many to be the best of New Zealand Honeys.
- Rewarewa Honey Rich and malty, this honey is full bodied yet not overly strong and has a beautiful burnished amber hue. A hint of rustic woolsheds pervades the complex aroma. Rewarewa is a great natural sweetener for hot drinks.
- Rosemary Produced in France and Spain.
- Sunflower A mild, runny, not-too-sweet honey. Because sunflower honey crystallizes with exceptional speed, becoming pleasantly soft and easy to spread, it is often consumed in its crystallized state. Produced mainly in France and Spain.
- Tawari Honey The 'beaujolais' of honeys, Tawari is best savoured when young. Its origins are the lowland forests of New Zealand's far north where the elegant tree's waxy white flowers, prized by the ancient Māori , give the bees a light yellow nectar with a lingering butterscotch flavour. So subtle and mild, it's perfect for topping pancakes, waffles or ice cream.
- Thyme Honey With a heritage dating back to the ancient tribes who cultivated the arid, unforgiving soils of the Mediterranean, especially in Greece and garrigues in Malta, but also in France and Spain, Thyme continues to flourish today in New Zealand's Central Otago's similarly challenging environment. Its burnt grass colouring so aptly reflects the surrounding landscape. An intensely aromatic honey, the pale Thyme flowers imbue it with lingering, herby, savoury flavours enjoyed by the experienced honey connoisseur.
- Tupelo Tupelo is made from trees of the genus Nyssa which are native to wetlands of southeastern USA. In many areas the forests have been cutover, greatly reducing the supply of this very light and mild flavored honey. It is favored for some uses because it is very slow to granulate. Northern Florida is a major producer and honey that is certified by laboratory analysis as purely tupelo brings a premium price.
- Viper's Bugloss Honey This wild flower covers the hills of the New Zealand Central South Island in a sea of brilliant blue colour during summer months. The seed, resembling a Viper's head, was once mistakenly used as a treatment for snakebite, which gives the plant its unusual name. Viper's Bugloss honey has a delicate flavour with a "chewy" texture. Hint: Keep this in the refrigerator and you'll have a natural chewy snack for kids of all ages.
