Forest, rubber or multiflora: choosing a honey by taste
Three honeys from three kinds of flowers. How they differ in colour, taste and use, and which to buy first.
How to spot adulterated honey
Simple checks at home, and why the label matters more than any of them.
Honey is one of the most commonly adulterated foods, usually with cheap sugar syrups that are hard to detect. A few home checks help, though none is perfect.
The thumb test: put a drop on your thumb. Pure honey stays in a drop; thin, watery honey spreads quickly. This tells you mostly about moisture.
The water test: drop a spoonful into a glass of water. Pure honey sinks and settles in a lump; syrups tend to dissolve faster. Again, a hint rather than proof.
The fridge test: raw honey usually crystallises in the fridge within a few weeks. Honey that stays perfectly runny for months in the cold may have been heated or blended with syrup.
Home checks only go so far, which is why the label matters. Look for a batch number, a harvest month and the name of the place the honey came from. Ask the seller how the honey was collected. We are happy to tell you where and when each batch came from.
