The Art of Tasting Honey!
Honey tasting is a sensory experience! Becoming a discerning honey taster means educating your palate and learning to identify the individual flavors that burst forth in each spoonful! And you don't need to know EXACTLY what flower nectar you are tasting - but as you practice, you will learn to pick-up different profiles in various varietals. It's important to remember that preference for flavor is entirely subjective, so what you ultimately consider to be a great-tasting honey is one that you enjoy! And most importantly, don't get discouraged if initially all honey tastes the same - it takes practice to become a discerning honey taster and develop your palate!
Our goal is to help you appreciate the flavor for the honey that you taste, and COMING SOON we will be providing food pairings with our unique varietals! Honey isn't just for your cup of coffee or tea, or for baking, or slathered on your English muffin! Honey varietals can be paired with food accompaniments to enhance the flavor of those foods. For instance, our Linden/Basswood honey can be dribbled on green grapes, and doing so can alter and enhance your enjoyment of those green grapes. It provides a whole new dimension to the tasting experience! You will engage more of your senses while enjoying the multiple layers of flavors.
Following the steps below, you will learn to engage all of your senses to pick up on the nuances in different honey varietals. Remember, your taste buds, those tiny bumps on the tongue, which are called papillae, are found on the tongue, the roof of your mouth and in your throat. And surprisingly, our tongues only pick up if the flavor of a food is sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami (essence of deliciousness). Of all of our senses, the olfactory is the most powerful.
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Most importantly, start off with a jar of local honey - a good quality honey from a local honey producer.
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Look at the color of the honey - lift the jar to the light.
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Look to see if the honey is translucent or cloudy - most good-quality honey is cloudy, because it still has the pollen intact. Some honeys, like black locust/acacia honey, is naturally translucent, even if the pollen is intact within the honey.
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Take a good sniff of the honey to catch the aroma. Think about what you smell.
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With a clean spoon, scoop up a generous amount of honey, spread it on your tongue and let it melt slowly until it covers your entire tongue.
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Disburse the honey along the roof of your mouth, or your palate.
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Close your mouth, but don't swallow yet. You may detect an initial sweetness. Continue to let it melt and become the same temperature as your body.
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Inhale through your mouth, and exhale through your nose. As the aromas reach the olfactory glands in your nose, the flavors come into focus.
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Concentrate on each flavor - note whether mild or assertive.
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Pay attention to the 'finish' of the tasting experience - you will pick up on flavor nuances.
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Now, swallow the honey and Enjoy!
The following is an awesome resource: https://www.seriouseats.com/honey-tasting-101