Introducing Maryiza’s Honey Sensory Analysis Wheel
Honey is the essence of sunshine, golden and limpid, tasting of grassy meadows, mountain wildflowers, lavishly blooming orange trees, or scrubby desert weeds. Honey, even more than wine, is a reflection of place.
- Stephanie Rosenbaum, author of Honey from Flower to Table
How do you describe honey? Sweet. While this may be true for honey bears found in supermarkets, “sweet” is only one of a multitude of flavor dimensions found in single-origin and specialty honeys. An exceptional honey can even reveal a flavor of place — the flavors of three different honeys can represent three drastically different origin stories.
Experiencing a honey to its fullest requires all the senses. Flavor is a combination of taste, aroma, and texture. Taste and flavor are sometimes used synonymously, but taste only describes what taste buds sense on the tongue. Flavor is the taste and texture picked up by your tongue in combination with the aromas that move from the back of your throat to the nose. You can try this definition out for yourself — during your next meal, heighten any flavor in your mouth by inhaling through your mouth and exhaling through your nose. By sending aromas through your retro-nasal passage, you’ll automatically have a much clearer picture of the flavor in your mouth.
Maryiza developed our own Honey Sensory Analysis Wheel to inspire the exploration of flavor, and ultimately a deeper appreciation for the many sensory dimensions of single-origin honeys. Our wheel can guide the process of a complete honey experience, and was born from the aggregated flavor descriptions and sensory descriptions shared by our many friends and members of the Maryiza community.
In the center of the wheel are four categories: texture, color, flavor, and smoke process. Flavor is further broken down into seven flavor families: flora, fruit, confection, nut, spice, herb, and earthy. As you move outwards on the wheel, each category is broken down into smaller categories until you reach descriptors as specific as “butterscotch” or “wet soil.” It may feel overwhelming at first, since there are almost 100 descriptors — 100 possibilities of flavor — on the wheel. Luckily, having the broadest impression of a flavor is the only possible first step in the process.
Generating greater awareness of and appreciation for single-origin and specialty honeys requires collaboration. Our sensory wheel was inspired by the great work of University of California Davis’ Bee Research Center and their Honey Flavor Wheel, and The American Honey Tasting Society (notably the Founder, Marina Marchese’ book, trainings, and tools like her Aroma and Tasting wheel). The collaboration between organizations like these are the reason that the value in honey is being rediscovered.
The best way to understand the wheel, of course, is to try it out! I decided to organize a small honey tasting party for me and my family. The setup is simple for a party of four — I poured out a dollop of each Maryiza honey into a small bowl, to best see the color of the honey, and sliced an apple to act as a palette cleanser between each honey. I won’t go into the details of all five honeys, but I’ll describe my two personal favorites: Geteme and Abalo. Here are my notes on the flavors I sensed:
Geteme: The color of Geteme is distinctly light; most definitely under the White category of color, then from there, I decided on calling it off-white. After looking at the honey, I give it a sniff: it’s wonderfully floral, as if the honey is just flowers jammed in a jar. When I first taste Geteme, I try to process the flavor and texture as fast as possible. Its viscosity, or the weight of the honey on my tongue, is light and the honey feels slightly gritty from crystallization. I taste flowers that match its aroma — I decide on honeysuckle as a descriptor — but I also detect something fruity. I scan through all the possible fruit options and a bunch seem right to me: melon, pear, apricot, even banana. It’s hard to make a decision so I decide on all of them. It’s common to detect a “bouquet” of flavors in honey, and it’s also common for the flavor to change while the honey sits in your mouth or after swallowing.
Abalo: After clearing the taste in my mouth, I take a look at Abalo. It’s much darker than Geteme, I’d say amber. Its smell immediately reminds me of my grandmother’s incense, like cedar or pine wood, but it also smells a bit peppery. When I taste it, I immediately notice its heavier viscosity and smoother texture when compared to Geteme. I’m also shocked by how smoky it tastes to me; the more I inhale, the more I taste a mix of spices, wood, and caramel. I want to say barbeque sauce, which sounds crazy for a honey descriptor, but it’s also completely acceptable to add your own flavor words to describe honeys you taste. So I’ll say the most delicious honey barbeque sauce.
It was interesting comparing notes on what my family tasted in the honeys. We agreed on all of the larger categories, but we sometimes ended up choosing different descriptors. That is the best part about tasting with others: knowing that flavor is entirely subjective, and that there is no right or wrong flavor profile.
There’s one final part of the complete honey experience that is not actually listed on the wheel. Honey with a clear, single-origin story and a direct floral source has a deeper meaning than mass-marketed honey. In my opinion, this meaning enhances the honey’s flavor even more. Each flowering tree species used for Maryiza’s farmers is thoughtfully chosen for the flavors it produces when turned into honey. And for each kind of honey available to purchase, Maryiza’s website includes an image of its floral source. I invite you to experiment with Maryiza’s honey wheel. Perhaps, along the way, you will expand your understanding of honey after reflecting upon its colors, textures, taste, and aroma, and then expand your appreciation for the story behind each honey.
