Message Boards

I know nothing about honey. But some I just don't like on top of cornbread or biscuits.

What do I need to know about the different kinds?
Where do you all get yours?

I usually buy jars of raw honey from Trader Joes, as it has the best price here.
Raw honey has the best flavor and is more healthful in my estimations. If you have any farmer's markets, you can often find great honey there from local farmers too.

Generally, I purchase local honey. But I have purchased honey from different locations in the country while traveling.

One thing to pay attention to is the "type" of honey. The honey can take on a hint of taste from the flower the bees visit. Clover, alfalfa, wild flowers, etc. It does make a difference. My mother did not like the wildflower honey I brought back from Alaska. My husband said that the honey that wife #1 purchased while they lived in Florida had a slight orange taste.

Conrad - will try Trader Joe's; have tried some of the farmer's here, but was disappointed. Maybe it's a flavor you have to get "used to" vs store bought????

Hey Sherry - local honey as in from farmer's markets? or stores?
(The Nice brand from Walgreens is awful!)

No telling where the honey in a grocery store comes from - even "natural" or "organic" - if it is from a distributorship - it is probably a combination of honey from several areas.

I purchase from one of our local peach orchards in a neighboring county - the honey is from my county and surrounding counties depending on where the bees have been placed. And also from a local hardware store which carries things like honey, sorghum syrup, ribbon cane syrup, etc. from the northeast Texas area.

I almost forgot - my local Brookshires had a display with northeast Texas honey last year. The location was probably within 100 or so miles of my home.

Just check the label.

Sherry is right about that. You can find out about some of the common varieties of honey on the National Honey Board's website. -

http://www.honey.com/honey-at-...ney/honey-varietals/

They also have a honey locator website where you can buy from the supplier. They also have the forms of honey listed on this page.

http://www.honeylocator.com/locator/find/

You can do a one click search by state on the link above if you want to find a supplier in your state. The downside is they will most likely sell honey from your part of the country only.

As I understand it...most grocery store honeys are now a mixture from a bunch of different COUNTRIES...I'll buy local, thank you!

Buying local will also help your immune system couter-act any local allergies you may have. It helps build up a resistance to those local plants.

We prefer local honey from the farmers' market, too. They will let you taste before buying, so give it a try.

Some folks like mild flavors and others prefer bold. It's just individual preference.

We use orange blossom honey exclusively that we get here in Fl, and DH always takes a big jar back to MI. He Loves his honey.

Buy from local farmers markets. I've heard that more and more, honey bought in the stores is not the REAL honey that we like.

The US doesn't buy honey from China because of the bad things they have in it (I think lead and arsnic). SO, they sell it to other countries and then we buy it from them, not knowing it really came from China. The processing to try to remove the "impurities" also removes all of the good stuff we buy honey for, so, buy from local farmers marts.

When I need from it from grocery store because I've run out of specialty honey brought home from travels, I check the label for origin.
Generally carry honey from our state.
Just opened a jar of lemon honey from Spain that we brought back. My son also sent another jar of darker honey, but not sure what flavor it is, altho he said he preferred darker variety.

Have had orange blossom, clover, etc in past.
but the lemon honey was excellent on hot homemade baking powder biscuits last week.

With honey and any other food stuff, I despise the words "Distributed by" XYZ Company in City, State, USA. You have absolutely no idea of the country of origin!

Oh - vitamin supplements too. And let's not forget generic over-the-counter meds! Bought some generic benadryl once. The outside package had the distributed by an American company. The inside package had the name of a "doctor" in India. Ummm...no thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by nance425:
I know nothing about honey. But some I just don't like on top of cornbread or biscuits.

For cornbread, we use a mesquite syrup. I believe Trader Joe's carries a mesquite variety of honey - has anyone tried it?

I always buy local honey from the Farmer's market here and get enough in the fall to last through until the market starts again.

Martha