Honey. What can I say about this sweet, golden food treasure.
And seriously, it’s a TREASURE. Honey is not only a wonderful sweetener that’s good on toast, in tea, drizzled on dessert and a myriad of other delicious uses, but it is simply AMAZING. Many years ago, I started reading about honey and I was shocked at how many wonderful (and almost unbelievable) facts there were about honey. I was going to list a whole bunch of amazing honey facts in this post, but there’s so much that I’m going to save that for a future post! Just believe me when I say – honey is pretty incredible!
My pantry is stocked with ‘regular’ honey (usually Billy Bee), a range of local and varietal honeys (particular varieties of honey that differ depending on the nectar source of the flowers visited by the honeybees) and even some honeycomb. However, it’s not always easy (and usually quite expensive) to find honey that you like.
So I was excited when I was contacted by Nude Bee Honey Co. and they asked if I’d like to sample some of their honey. A few weeks after we connected, I received a box of golden treasure.
I immediately grabbed all the spoons in the kitchen and convinced Paul, Suzy (my sister) and Dave (Suzy’s husband) to join me for a blind taste test.
All four honeys had so much flavour and were so vibrant and intense but our unanimous favourite was the Blueberry honey. It was floral and sweet without being sugary-sweet. It tasted like honey from a field of flowers. Interestingly, it didn’t have much blueberry flavour, but it was wonderful it its own way.
The Wild honey was our second favourite. It tasted a lot like the honey most people are used to, but more intense… more ‘honey’. It tastes like how you dream honey should taste in its purest form.
We were kind of torn between the Pumpkin and Buckwheat. Both were very strong flavours, not very sweet and distinct in their own way. We couldn’t pick which one we liked better, so we called it a tie.
Started in 2010, Nude Bee Honey Co. delivers unique varieties of honey in beautiful, eye-catching jars. Their honey comes in a variety of flavour profiles depending on what local honey is available and one of their main goals is to educate consumers on the myriad of issues related to this sweet byproduct – mainly food production, infrastructure and environmentalism.
I got a chance to ask Eddie Okun, founder of Nude Bee, a few questions about the company and their products.
Why honey? What drew you to honey and made you consider turning it into a business?
I was introduced to the wide world of honey through a friend of a friend who was a beekeeper in Guelph. I had no idea that honey could have so much depth of flavour. He knew other beekeepers that were making unique varieties of honey and so we started packing those too. The response from foodies and retailers was overwhelmingly positive and I knew we were on to something. Educating consumers and encouraging people to care about their food and where it comes from is a real thrill.
What are your personal favourite honey flavours?
We’ve been lucky to have some unbelievable honeys come through. My all-time favourite is Star Thistle Honey, it’s yellow and has this incredible consistency and butterscotch flavour. We currently don’t have it in stock, but we’ve always got our eyes peeled for it. My favourite in stock is our blueberry honey, it’s thick with notes of citrus and very full flavoured.
What are your favourite ways to enjoy honey?
Experimenting with combining different varieties of honeys with different teas and cheeses is really fun, it’ll result in a new experience and flavour profile of your favourites. For example, our blueberry honey adds a lovely dimension to soft cheeses like brie.
Why should people buy your honey instead of the other brands on the market?
I would encourage people just to try and learn about different honeys they might come across at farmers markets or specialty stores. There’s so much variety in the world of honey and so much to discover. What I love about Nude Bee is that it’s a great jumping off point for many foodies who weren’t aware of the universe of honeys that exists and we work really hard to find unique varieties that are special and are otherwise hard to find. Our goal is to distribute in such a way that makes unique honey and knowledge about honey more accessible.
Eddy Okun of Nude Bee Honey Co
Have you ever been stung by a bee? (I had to ask!)
No way, the bees love me!
Learn more about Nude Bee Honey Co. on their website or by following them on Twitter! You can also purchase their honey on their website.
I used the blueberry honey in a sticky toffee pudding and it turned out even better than the normal recipe (which calls for molasses). I’ll be sharing the recipe soon!
Disclosure: I received a sample package of honey from Nude Bee Honey for review purposes. I did not receive any financial compensation for this post and the post was not reviewed by the sponsor prior to publication. All opinions expressed are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information.
