Allen's Honey Journal

Name: Ours Brun Rosemary Honey You can buy it: In Chicago at the fabulous gourmet food shop Fox and Obel. Or on the Internet here. Country: France Color: Caramel Flavor: Pleasant mix of cashews and golden raisins -- sweet, but not cloying. Consistency: Medium thick, but will separate of over time, the thinner honey rising to the top and the thicker honey falling to the bottom. Fragrance: Light floral bouquet. Notes: Somehow it figures that a honey from France would have a subtle and sophisticated flavor. This one is very light on the pallet, making no attempt to overwhelm you. Even though my preference leans toward stronger honeys, there is definitely a place for this one in my collection. I searched for some hint of rosemary, the herb from which this honey is harvested, but I couldn't detect any. There is not necessarily a one-to-one taste relationship between the flower and the honey. Tupelo Honey, maybe my favorite, tastes nothing like the berries from a tupelo tree, I'm sure. On the other hand, I've found that honey harvested from orange trees has an obvious orange flavor. Perhaps the pollen from fruit and berries carry more of the taste of the fruit than the pollen of herbs or flowers. I'll have to conduct my own personal survey. It's almost exactly two years since I started The Honey Journal. I've been surprised and delighted with the response it's generated. I've achieved a certain modest level of notoriety as the executive producer of the Dennis Prager Show, in no small part due to Dennis's idiosyncratic description of me as a misanthropic curmudgeon, which really just means I don't laugh at the things he finds hilarious. What he finds hilarious would surprise you, but that's another story. But if I'm known as the producer of the show, I'm just as much recognized as Mr. Honey. When I meet listeners of the show, they are just as likely to ask me about honey as they are about politics or Dennis. The most gratifying response I get is when someone tells me that because of the Honey Journal or hearing me talk about honey on the show, they've tried the real thing -- the unprocessed, unheated, untreated, straight from the hive honey (like this French honey). Many have really been pleasantly surprised about the difference in taste between generic, filtered honey (probably imported from China) and raw honey. Listeners have also been very generous in sending me their local honeys. I've received them from around the country and the world. One listener airmailed me some honey from Russia which I didn't review because it almost killed me (slight exaggeration). But I was very touched that he took the time and trouble to send it to me. It wasn't his fault that it tasted like manure. Some listeners and readers have seriously suggested that I open a Honey Store. I like the idea, but can't quite get my head around the business model. For now think I think I'll stick to my reviews.