Honey is a natural food that has always been present in our diet, delicious on its own but also used as an ingredient in dishes, desserts or combined with cheese. Discover with us how to taste honey!

What is honey

Man has always consumed honey, a simple and natural food that is eaten without making any changes.

This extraordinary food is produced by bees using nectar and honeydew.

Nectar is a liquid rich in water that plants produce precisely to encourage pollination, thanks to its ability to attract insects. The pollen, being attached to their body, is transported from flower to flower.

Honeydew is a sugary substance, the sap produced by the plant that is assimilated by the insects that feed on it.

The main varieties of honey are also distinguished according to the method of production or extraction:

• Honey comb;
• Honey with honeycomb pieces or honeycomb sections in honey;
• Drained honey;
• Centrifuged honey;
• Pressed honey;
• Filtered honey;

What are the best Italian honeys?

Each honey represents the result of the combination of the multiple interactions between bees and the botanical varieties characteristic of a specific environment.

The particular vegetation in which the bees live, the flowers that bloom and the climate determine the production of different and always unique honeys, which contain all the characteristics of the environment in which it was created.

Since these combinations are unlimited, honeys can be really many. Here is a list of the best Italian honeys:

• Chestnut honey;
• Sunflower honey;
• Citrus honey;
• Acacia’s honey;
• Honey from sulla;
• Linden honey;
• Clover honey
• Ecucalyptus honey;
• Strawberry tree honey;
• Coriander honey;
• Forest honeydew.

The honey tasting

If you want to understand how to taste honey you have to refer to the tasting methodology defined by Michel Gonnet in the mid-seventies.

The National Register of Experts in Sensory Honey Analysis also refers to the Gonnet methodology and theorizes the correct procedure for tasting honey:

1. 30 g of honey in a 150 ml ballon glass:
2. Honey is observed (visual examination);
3. The honey is distributed on the surface of the ballon with the help of a plastic teaspoon and is then smelled (olfactory examination);
4. It is brought to the mouth, in the amount of about 2 grams, by means of the same spoon. The aspects of aroma, taste and persistence (olfactory-gustatory examination) and subsequently the consistency (tactile examination) are examined.

When you taste more varieties of honey it is advisable to restore the olfactory-gustatory sensitivity by eating a slightly acidic and astringent apple slice or drinking a sip of water.

If you want to know all the secrets of this incredible food and find out how to taste honey, we are waiting for you at Villa Campestri Olive Oil Resort where our honey tasting course will reveal you every secret!