Honey Journal -- Entry 11
Name: Heavenly Organics, Organic Wild Forest Raw Honey (Unheated)
You can buy it: at Whole Foods or on the Internet here.
Country: India
Purchased: March, 2008
Color: Dark amber with a silty, muddy crown
Flavor: Black licorice
Consistency: Medium thickness with lots of crystals. Has a “raw” feel to it.
Fragrance: Earthy with a licorice scent that greets you the moment you open the jar.
Notes: Honey and beekeeping have a venerated place in Indian sub-continent, figuring prominently in Indian mythology. Ancient cave paintings found there feature bees and the harvesting of honey. Indians take their honey seriously and have for a long time.
Heavenly Organics associates this honey with that tradition. And there is, I have to say, a primal quality to it. Gathered in the forests of central India, you get the sense that this is what honey tasted like in this part of the world hundreds, if not thousands of years ago.
There’s something else that’s different about this honey. The bees that create it, wild rock bees, are not domesticated. They do their work with no assistance from us, building their hives in rocks and high in trees. Just getting to it is a job.
Because of the pureness of the product and the multi-floral nature of the honey (many of the plants pollinated are believed to have medicinal qualities) a lot of health benefits are claimed for this honey. I don’t endorse that one way or the other, but I thought you might like to know.
You can find all the previous Honey Journal entries here:
#1
Lufa Natural Honey - Papua New Guinea
#2
Natura Prime UMF 16 Manuka Honey -- New Zealand
#3
Honey Pacifica Creamy Wildflower (Cold-packed) -- Southern California
#4
Zambezi 100% Organic Forest Honey -- Africa
#5
White Gold Honey -- Canada
#6
Rare Hawaiian Organic Winter Honey -- Hawaii
#7
Eucalipto Honey#8
Rees Estate, Private Reserve Honey -- Southern California
#9
Living Foods Hawaiian Lehua Honey --
#10
Hill Tribe Gourmet Honey from Lychee Flowers -- Thailand