HONEY VARIETALS
Brine’s Fine Honeys

Buckwheat Honey
Origin: USA (Minnesota)
Taste: Bold; malty; molasses
Buckwheat is a hardy plant. It matures quickly, requires no pesticides, and grows well even in poor soils. It is often planted as a second crop of the growing season, following the harvest of the first crop. Buckwheat produces a thick cover of small white blossoms about a month after being sown. The flowers require pollination, as they are self-sterile.
Buckwheat

Carrot Honey
Taste: Sharp; full-bodied; caramel; allspice
Learn more about my beekeeper source for this honey.
Carrot blossoms (Photo provided by Oregon State University)
Carrots that are allowed to bloom are not intended to be eaten as vegetables. When the plant blooms, the orange root turns tough, woody, and inedible. Rather, Carrot Honey is made when honey bees pollinate the carrot plants being grown to produce the following year’s carrot seeds. These seeds will then be planted by farmers to yield a vegetable crop. Our Carrot Honey is sourced from Oregon, which produces approximately 45% of the world’s carrot seed.

Coriander Honey
Coriander blossoms

Cranberry Honey
Origin: USA (Wisconsin)
Taste: Rich; sweet; stewed fruit; mildly astringent
Learn more about my beekeeper source for this honey.
Producing around two thirds of the US crop and 50% of the world’s supply, Wisconsin is the cranberry capital of the world, and the area around the small town of Warrens (population 349) is its epicenter.
Cranberries are also grown in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington, Oregon, and parts of Canada and Chile. Cranberries blossom in Wisconsin from mid-June through early July. Honey bees are brought in to help pollinate the crop at around 2.5 hives per acre. If you see a cranberry marsh in bloom, you begin to appreciate why this honey is not exactly in huge supply.
The dainty pink blossoms have no aroma and don’t always produce enough nectar for a sizeable honey crop. Fun fact: cranberries are not grown in water, but the marshes are flooded periodically for harvest and to build up ice for winter protection of the plants.
The wetland you see in the photo below is part of the larger area of cranberry support land (consisting of natural and man-made wetlands, woodlands and uplands) needed to ensure an adequate water supply. The cranberry marshes are pictured in the background and are being irrigated through raised sprinkler heads.
Cranberry blossoms

Minnesota Wildflower Honey
Origin: USA (Central Minnesota)
Taste: Bright; citrus; lime
Learn more about my beekeeper source for this honey
White sweet clover
Basswood flowers
Glossy buckthorn
Basswood, or American linden or lime tree, is a large, moderately slow growing native tree found throughout Minnesota. Blossoms emerge in July as hanging, branching clusters of 6 to 18 fragrant, pale yellow flowers. Nectar from basswood flowers produces a high-grade honey and provides a characteristically “limey” flavor.

Orange Blossom Honey
Origin: USA (Florida)
Taste: Lightly citrus
Learn more about my beekeeper source for this honey.
Even though the waxy, white blossoms of the sweet orange (Citrus x sinensis) trees aren’t readily visible from a distance, you know the trees are in bloom as soon as you step out of your vehicle. The sweet fragrance is absolutely delightful and helps attract pollinators like honey bees to the trees.
Originating in southeast Asia and first planted by the Spanish in the early 1500s, Florida’s groves now yield most of the oranges raised in the United States: on average, nearly 11 million tons of fruit annually.
Oranges are interesting in that in many varieties, the trees bloom for next year’s crop prior to the harvest of the current year’s crop. Further, orange blossoms are actually self-fertile, meaning insect pollination is not necessary for the development of mature fruit. Research has found that when honey bees are introduced to orange groves, however, fruit yields are dramatically increased.
Another benefit of honey bee pollination, of course, is Orange Blossom Honey… and we wouldn’t want to miss out on that!
Each spring draws local and migratory beekeepers and truckloads of honey bees to the groves as the orange trees begin to bloom. Pollination begins as early as mid-January, with the majority of the nectar being produced in late February and March. The honey produced is very delicious, tasting subtly of orange.
Honey bee pollinating an orange blossom. Note the unripe oranges from last year’s pollination maturing alongside the blossoms.
Orange Blossom Honey, in the making!

Western Clover Honey
Origin: USA (Nebraska)
Taste: Cinnamon, dry hay, vanilla
Learn more about my beekeeper source for this honey
Yellow sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis) is the primary nectar source of our Western Clover Honey. Sweet clover is a common sight in ditches and fields throughout Minnesota and across the upper Midwest. This tall, distinctive plant is a favorite of honey bees and cattle, if not of ecologists. Sweet clover is considered an invasive species because of its ability to spread throughout prairies and disrupt the native species that live there.
Although non-native to North America, yellow sweet clover grows natively in the Mediterranean region as far east as Tibet. The genus name Melilotus means “honey” in Greek. It was first introduced to the United States and Canada in the latter half of the 17th century. It was widely cultivated as a soil stabilizer, nectar source for honey bees, and forage for livestock.
Yellow sweet clover
Yellow sweet clover blooms from June through September in the United States. A biennial plant, blossoms appear in the second and final year of the plant’s life. The ¼” flowers appear along shoots that can grow up to 6 feet tall. Most honey production from yellow sweet clover takes place in early summer.
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