Buying guide for Best honey
Not only is it delicious and sweet, but the right honey is good for you. It can be rich in nutrients and antioxidants, soothe your throat, and possibly even help lower your blood pressure. Honey comes in a wide variety of flavors with no two jars tasting exactly the same, and it is recognized as the only fresh food that doesn’t spoil.
If you’re looking for honey that has all of these benefits, you need to find raw honey. Different from regular honey, raw honey hasn’t been pasteurized and filtered to the point of eradicating most of its beneficial properties. Many types of regular honey also contain unhealthy additives like high-fructose corn syrup.
Key considerations
When purchasing honey, the first thing to consider is the different types: regular, raw, and organic.
Regular honey
Regular honey is mostly what you find on grocery shelves. If it doesn’t say “raw” on the label, it is not raw honey. Regular honey is subjected to pasteurization and filtration, which makes the honey safer to eat, but those processes also destroy many of the natural benefits of raw honey. Most notably, regular honey may not contain any bee pollen, which is so beneficial that some countries recognize it as a medicine. Additionally, regular honey may contain additives, such as added sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.
Raw honey
Because raw honey is sold in its natural state, unpasteurized and unfiltered, it retains all its vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, and bee pollen. It is possible that trace elements of undesirables, such as venom or bee parts, may find their way into raw honey as well. However, raw honey contains polyphenols that act as antioxidants in the human body. If you are looking beyond sweetness for the healthier option, raw honey is the way to go.
Expert TIp
Honey, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper make an amazing and super-healthy salad dressing. Try it with curly kale.
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Organic honey
Organic honey is not necessarily raw honey. Rather, it means the flowers, bees, and honey are not permitted to come into contact with chemicals like pesticides and herbicides. However, organic honey may be pasteurized and filtered like regular honey, which removes much of the honey’s beneficial properties. For the very healthiest honey, look for a product that is labeled as both organic and raw.
In addition to having a sweet, pleasant flavor, quality honey offers various health and nutritional benefits. We take this into account when we compile information for our readers.
Regular, raw, and organic are the three main varieties of honey. We include information about all three in our reviews and discuss their positive and negative features.
Each honey has a different flavor, which depends on the type of flowers and blossoms from which bees collect nectar. We inform our readers that there are many flavors available, and indicate that there are more than 300 types of honey on the market.
We assess the most popular types of honey, which include Manuka, clover, dandelion, buckwheat, Tupelo, and wildflower. We inform our readers what they can expect from the flavor of each type.
We check out the color of honey, which ranges from a light, golden hue to a rich, mahogany shade. We note that darker honey typically has a bolder flavor than lighter honey.
Honey is ideal for numerous culinary purposes and can be used instead of sugar in many recipes. We take this into consideration when we do our evaluations.
When we scrutinize honey, we note that some brands of regular honey may contain additives. Is it made with sugar? Does it include corn syrup? We aim to answer these questions, as most consumers prefer pure honey.
Honey comes in bottles and jars of various sizes. We look at this feature when we recommend honey, and advise our readers that a larger jar usually offers the best value based on the price and quantity.
When we research honey, we factor in the texture. Depending on the variety, honey either has a liquid or creamy consistency.
In our research, we alert consumers that some honey is True Source-certified, which indicates transparent sourcing protocols were used in its production.
Features
The other features to take into account when buying honey come down to matters of personal taste and preference.
Size
How much honey do you use? Since honey doesn’t spoil, if it’s more economical to buy a larger jar or even to purchase in bulk, that might be a wiser choice.
Color
The color of honey offers more than just aesthetic appeal. Typically, the darker the color, the more intense the flavor.
Texture
Honey typically comes in two different textures, either the sticky liquid that most people are familiar with or a buttery cream. Liquid honey is usually pasteurized but not always – it depends on how hot the honey was heated. Honey can also crystalize over time, but that texture can be smoothed by slightly warming the honey while slowly stirring.
Flavor
The flavor of honey comes from the flowers the bees visited. If you discover a fondness for a particular flavor, such as tupelo, search for that type of honey. If you’d like to explore your options, there is a wide variety of honey flavors to choose from.
Local
Many individuals prefer honey from their area. But if you’d like to expand your palate, consider honey from other locales and different countries.
True Source certification
If you have concerns about how the honey you are considering is harvested, look for honey that is True Source-certified. True Source is a voluntary system that allows honey manufacturers to be transparent, certifying that their sourcing practices are in full compliance with U.S. and international trade laws.
Expert TIp
Sometimes honey labeled as pure may be diluted. You can test the purity of your honey by putting a tablespoon or two in a small bowl, covering it with warm water, and swirling it in a circular motion for a minute or two. Thick honey takes on a hexagonal pattern. Diluted honey, which is often thinner, either comes up as a misshapen pattern or no pattern at all.
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Honey prices
Don’t be swayed by price alone. Though the best honey may cost a little more than you were expecting, that is not to say you can’t find exceptional honey at a lower price. In the $5 to $10 price range, you’ll find jars of mostly wildflower and clover honey that is a golden or amber in color.
From $10 to around $17, you can find local honey along with jars that have been infused with other ingredients, such as ginger, lemon, and additional pollen. The honey may come in glass jars instead of squeeze bottles at this price.
From $18 to $30, you’ll find specialized products, such as tupelo honey and manuka honey. For over $30, you should be cautious and do your research because the higher price does not always translate to a better product.
Expert Tip
Honey is a great natural sweetener, so it goes well in smoothies.
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Popular types of honey
Honey is most often named for the nectar of the flower it contains. In the United States, there are roughly 300 different types of honey. To give you an idea of what is available, here are some of the more common varieties of honey.
- Clover: Clover honey is a very light and mild honey that contains a wide variety of minerals, including zinc, copper, magnesium, potassium, and manganese. It also contains high levels of vitamins B and C and may help lower blood pressure.
- Tupelo: This golden honey has a high sugar content and a buttery texture. It is a local variety of honey created from the nectar of the white tupelo tree, which is found in the wetlands of Georgia and Florida. It is unique in the fact that it will not granulate.
- Wildflower: This type of honey comes from a variety of wildflowers. Although it is usually a light to medium amber color, the flavor can vary from season to season depending on what is in bloom at the time. This type of honey, as well as most others, is an effective cough suppressant.
- Dandelion: A rich-tasting vegan option that does not come from bees, dandelion honey has a number of beneficial vitamins and minerals that aid in digestion.
- Buckwheat: Buckwheat honey is a dark purple to black honey that has a distinctive taste, is rich in antioxidants, and helps support the body’s immune system.
- Manuka: This dark, creamy honey can be ingested or applied to the skin. It has a number of beneficial properties that aid in everything from wound healing to improved digestion. Manuka honey is native to New Zealand.
FAQ
Q. Can local honey cure my allergies?
A. This is one of the most hotly debated issues in the world of honey. The answer depends on who you ask. Taking a spoon of honey won’t stop you from sneezing, but some doctors believe local honey can work like allergy shots by helping you build up an immunity to local pollen. Other doctors state that the allergens found in local honey are not the ones that bring about sneezing fits. However, honey has been proven to suppress coughs, and it has some anti-inflammatory effects – inflammation is part of an allergic reaction – so the debate continues.
Q. Is honey safe for my child?
A. Never give honey to a child who is younger than 12 months old because it contains a bacteria that can cause botulism. Infant botulism is treatable if caught early. The symptoms can begin as soon as 18 hours after ingestion and include constipation, weak muscles (which shows up as floppy movements), weak cry, irritability, drooling, paralysis, and more. The sooner you get medical treatment, the better.
Q. My honey has turned into hard crystals, should I throw it away?
A. No. One of the many wonders of honey is that it is the only food that doesn’t spoil. Processed honey, however, may not last forever because vital elements have been filtered out. The crystallization of honey does not mean it has gone bad. In fact, if you simply place the jar of crystallized honey in a container of warm water and stir it gently, those crystals will dissolve.
