Single-origin honey: Experiencing floral sources and ‘terroir’ in honey

Appreciating honey like specialty coffee and wine

It was August 2017, and I was excitedly introducing the agroforestry venture I was setting out to build, Forested Foods, to my new classmate during our MBA orientation.

“We’re launching Forested Foods with Maryiza, a line of single-origin ­­honeys from Ethiopia’s indigenous tree flora.”

Confused, he responds, “But what does ‘single-origin honey’ mean?”

“You know how ‘single-origin’ coffee indicates that coffee will present a distinct flavor profile based on being from the same botanical variety of beans from the same area? Like, a coffee from Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia might be described as light-bodied, floral, with citrus notes whereas a coffee from Sumatra, Indonesia as fuller-bodied, earthy, chocolatey, and of tobacco?” The look on his face indicates the reference potentially sounds familiar. “It’s similar to the concept of ‘terroir’ in wine, in that the unique taste and flavor profile of a wine is imparted by the environment — soil, topography, climate — in which it is produced.”

He’s now clear regarding the overall concept but still unclear about the connection to honey. He exclaims, “But isn’t all honey the same? I mean, it’s all sticky, kinda light-ish brown-ish and…tastes the same…?” He’s still searching for the words, “…like that honey taste!”

Truth is, single-origin honeys, which are traceable back to a specific area from a specific flowering time of year, are incredibly unique from one to another. Single-origin honeys will exhibit specific characteristics — in colour, texture, aroma, and taste. Each hive-batch of honey is the product of the natural harmony between art and science. Art presents choice: what flowers bloom when and where, and what nectar bees decide to feed and collect nectar from. Science presents process: bees’ unfailing, perfect execution of honey production. And at last we get the privilege to enjoy nature’s perfect performance of honey creation.

Given how honey is one of the most referenced foods in history, modern literature, and day-to-day life, it’s somewhat surprising that our understanding of and exposure to its boundless variations in flavour, appearance, and texture, is so limited. The driving cause of this issue is, like many other agricultural products, honey exists in our incredibly commoditized world. Most expectations of honey are that it is predictable: that it visually presents as an amber, perfectly syrupy liquid, and that taste-wise, it resembles a sugar concentrate, lacking much dimension. Additionally, the world has built and increasing runs on a large-scale, manufactured food systems that reinforces a muted understanding of honey as a homogenous product.

To fuel the world’s evolving appreciation of honey, Maryiza is inspired by the opportunity to amplify the art and science behind each batch of single origin honeys. We’re continuously discovering nature, by exploring the floral nectars that, when processed into honey, construct beautiful varieties of flavours, colours, and textures. To research and showcase Maryiza’s single-origin honeys, we work with forest-based communities and train them to manage their bee colonies and produce honey alongside the flowering seasons of indigenous tree flora. We also collaborate with Ethiopia’s Holetta Bee and Honey Center of Excellence’s botany team to better understand the correlation between the sensory results of honeys with their floral origins.

Each batch of Maryiza honey is a reflection of a major flora source — in aroma, taste, colour, and texture. We’ve designed our own sensory wheel that will be introduced soon to help convey how we can all enjoy the nuances of single-origin honeys. We are in the business of offering our fellow, enlightened foodies limited editions of flavour, because that’s what nature — kept natural — is.

Maryiza’s origin story is part of a greater vision to combat deforestation and conserve biodiversity through working with forest-based communities to sustainably grow and realize increased incomes from all kinds of agroforestry products. Maryiza is just where we start. Learn more via our canopy company, Forested Foods.