Jonathan got a cold awhile back, and when I’d quarantined him away from the baby he ended up consuming his weight in honey to get better fast. And guess what?! He did! At the expense of our entire honey stock, that is.
So when Mohawk Valley Trading Company offered to send me some raw honey and comb honey to review and giveaway I was like, “Uhhh, heck yes, please?!”
They sent us a jar of Raw Buckwheat Honey, a jar of Raw Tulip Poplar-Black Locust Honey, a jar of Raw Adirondack Wildflower Honey and a cube of Raw Wildflower Comb Honey.
Jonathan and I have purchased raw honey before, so I thought I knew what we’d be getting. But when we sampled the varieties sent to us I was shocked. I mean, shocked. Jonathan and I both said “wow” about a dozen times each.
First, I’d never sampled different varieties of honey before. I was shocked to find that the flavors vary drastically between the different types. Not just an, “Oh yes, this is a tweak on the same old thing.” But a night and day difference between each jar. The wildflower honey tasted like sugary sunshine and summertime. The tulip poplar honey tasted sweet and rich with hints of deep flavor, like honey and brown sugar made a honey love child. And the buckwheat honey was the deepest, earthiest sweet substance I’ve ever tasted, with a rich, deep, pleasantly intense woodsy flavor.
Secondly, the intensity of the individual flavors are surprisingly stand alone. I am quite fond of honey, but I have never been one to desire sucking on a glob of it right off the spoon. But this honey is like candy! We accidentally spilled some on the kitchen counter and I started licking at the counter top like a freak. (The counter was clean, don’t look at me like that.) I think I’m ordering all of my honey from Mohawk Valley from now on. No joke!
The comb honey is just something else, and it deserves it’s own blog post, which I’ll be putting out (along with some yummy recipes) later this week.. so be sure to check back!
More About Honey
I mentioned above that Jonathan and I go through quite a bit of honey whenever the flu or a cold or the sniffles hit. That’s because honey is one of the best holistic substances to have on hand to treat a cold or the flu. (Along with apple cider vinegar and garlic.)
Honey has been used by humans since ancient times for its many health benefits. Literally every culture across the planet has incorporated honey into their medical practices in some form or other. Further, modern medical research has explained the chemical properties of honey and deemed it beneficial as an antiseptic and antibacterial treatment. In a study published by the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, researchers found that raw honey works far better than dextromethorphan (the active ingredient in store-bought cough syrup) at reducing the frequency and severity of coughing episodes for children.
(IMPORTANT NOTE! Do no give honey to children under one year! Their bodies literally cannot digest it, it’s poison to an infant, with a high mortality rate! Over one year is generally considered safe, though some wait till their kids are 2 or older for safeties sake…)
Honey has been proven to help boost immunity, and to prevent or shorten the lifespan of the flu, sore throat, and the common cold. Dr. Tasneem Bhatia from the Atlanta Center for Holistic and Integrative Medicine has stated that one of the natural solutions she recommended is taking 1 to 2 teaspoons of buckwheat honey every day to ward off the flu!
Anyway, the thing is, if you are planning on buying honey for its health benefits, it must be raw honey.
Heating honey through pasteurization destroys all of the pollen, enzymes, propolis, vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants, minerals, and aromatics. Using liquid honey for a flu remedy is pretty much like gutting a Corvette and then bragging about your sweet ride. (Okay, that was a horrible analogy. But still.)
So, if liquid honey is so ineffective, why do companies do it? Because people are lazy, duh! Americans prefer the convenience of being able to squeeze honey from a bottle instead of gently warming a jar for easy pouring. (I, personally, see nothing wrong with scooping up a nice thick mound of solid honey and stirring it as it gently melts into my tea. Mmmmm…)
Mohawk Valley honey is raw, unheated, unpasteurized, unfiltered, unprocessed, unblended and in the same condition as it was in the hive.
From the Mohawk Valley Trading Company website, here is the rundown on the origins of the honey we sampled:
Buckwheat Honey – From about July through thru October, we place hives in buckwheat fields on both slopes and the surrounding area of the Central Mohawk Valley and Finger Lakes region of New York.
Tulip Poplar-Black Locust Honey – From about the last week of October (after we harvest the Autumn Wildflower and Buckwheat Honey) thru April some of our hives are trucked to The Delmarva Peninsula to winter over in a milder climate and to get an earlier start in the spring than they would in Upstate NY. Tulip Poplar and Black Locust trees bloom about the same time and this honey is derived from the nectar of their blossoms. Its dark color is due to the high mineral content.
Summer Wildflower Honey – From April thru mid-late August, hives are on both slopes and the surrounding area of the Southern Kuyahoora Valley & Central Mohawk Valley regions of Upstate New York.
And now!! Here’s your chance to enter to win:
One Glass Jar of Raw Buckwheat Honey
One Glass Jar of Raw Tulip Poplar-Black Locust Honey
One Glass Jar of Raw Adirondack Wildflower Honey
Trust me, this is a giveaway you don’t want to miss! I will be blogging more about honey vs. cough syrup, honey and honey comb recipes and various uses of honey in the coming week while this giveaway is active, so check back often! Also don’t forget, you can enter once a day! The giveaway ends on January 21!
Good luck!
[Disclaimer: There are no affiliate links in this review. I am an independent product reviewer. I only review products I am truly interested in. I don’t accept payment for reviews. The products I take the time to jabber on about are either items I have personally purchased, or the product has been provided for review after me incessantly nagging for a sample. All of my reviews are unbiased regardless of how the item was obtained.]
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Yum! I love honey, and I for one have always praised the health benefits of raw honey! Hope I win! <3
Yeah, we’re nuts for it. Good luck!!
Will check out their website to look at their products!
Lemme know if you end up buying anything!! ^_^
This is one I’d really like to win! I’ve put off getting raw honey from around here, simply due to the fact that our valley air quality and over use of all manner of pesticides/herbicides has really threatened our Ag ecosystem. I’d rather eat something that comes from a much less ‘used’ area. I’m going to check their website too. Oh, I’m so glad you put up the message about honey and babies…I’m always amazed at how many people don’t know that. Scary! Great review.
I didn’t even think about the poor air quality in Kings County effecting the honey.. yikes! Good luck on winning!! (I really wish I could enter haha..) MOAR HONEY!!
I love honey drizzled over my Green Banana Smoothie (with peanut butter!) or spread on gluten free almond butter toast with figs. ^_^ But frankly, honey is hard not to enjoy on any edible platform, savoury or sweet.
You need to let me feature another one of your food posts! 😉
Definitely. 🙂
Mmmm! I LOVE love love raw honey! My mouth was watering at your descriptions!
Haha, I always struggle with describing flavors adequately.. glad I succeeded!
I love raw honey! Especially on biscuits! 🙂
My husband LOVES making biscuits! I was thinking of posting about his technique, but I think he learned it all from “Good Eats”, haha.
Yes, please blog about his biscuits cause not everyone, myself included, saw that episode!
Peter loves honey!
….how about honey COFFEE?! 😉
I’m a huge fan of honey and am consuming quite a bit now since I am trying to kick the crud that has decided to invade me. I would love to try these different kinds!
They are tasty! Fair warning! 😉
The best way to have honey is to heat it up a bit so it’s very liquidy. Then put on toast with peanut butter. The peanut butter gets all warm too and everything is amazing.
That’s my favorite too! Only I’m a glutton and I put chocolate chips on mine, haha
Yay! We were so excited to get the in the mail! I had a horrible cold over new years and I really could have used this!
I go through honey SOOOO fast! I’d love to win this!!!
I used to keep bees. Honey in the comb is AWESOME! When you extract honey, the honey house smells wonderful — which is cool. But that’s a sign that you’re losing aromatics that you don’t lose with honey in the comb. It is WAY best!
And yeah! You time your extractions for when different plants are in bloom, pulling your “supers” (the boxes with honey comb in them) as soon as the plant your after stops blooming. And the flavor differences are stunning. Buckwheat has to be tasted to be believed.
You, sir, never cease to amaze me. Beekeeping?! Really??? Thats like, Sherlock Holmes level awesome right there!
My kids and husband put it on cereal and I use it in baking or body care recipes.
What are your favorite body care recipes with honey? I am planning on posting some later this week! ^_^
I love raw honey straight from the comb!
Loving your review especially your disclaimer “(IMPORTANT NOTE! Do no give honey to children under one year! Their bodies literally cannot digest it, it’s poison to an infant, with a high mortality rate! Over one year is generally considered safe, though some wait till their kids are 2 or older for safeties sake…)” especially since my baby had botulism which can be contracted from babies eating honey.
Yeah, I am amazed at how many people don’t know that!!
It’s so fun to read you blog Gingi!!! 🙂
Thank you! I am loving writing it!
I like raw honey one everything pancakes-chicken.!lol
Hahaha, have you heard of the restaurant, “Chicken and Waffles”? It’s in Southern Cali and my husband is OBSESSED!
Ohhh this would be perfect to have! I used the store bought honey and it tasted blah to me.
Gimme gimme!!! Yum 🙂
Remember, you can enter once a day! ^_^
So excited about possibly trying this hunny!
Remember, you can enter once a day!
Honey is amazing! I love using it for many different things.
sounds like they are pretty tasty. I use honey in everything from homemade facials to mead.
You crazy mead drinking wench! 😉
I LOVE honey! Seriously, love, love, love the stuff. My father sold localy collected honeys in his store and there IS a big difference in types. My stepdad puts in his tea since it doesn’t have any cholesterol in it. It is truly amazing.
It’s fascinating to see how many honey makers are crawling out of the woodworks for this giveaway! I’d love to be a beekeeper. But there are far too many things I want to be in this life, so I don’t think it’ll ever happen, lol!
Oooo, honey. I love using honey in my tea!
All of these sound good
On Toast!
My favorite way to eat honey is straight from the jar.
That’s hardcore! 😉
on plain bread
Buckwheat honey is my absolute favorite!
I like peanut butter and honey sandwiches.
Yeah, like I was telling Erik in the thread above, that is by far my favorite!
I love honey on toast or english muffins!
I love honey on lots of things. Would love to have these.
Honey is a stable food for my family. I use it for my baking needs, sweeting drinks, mixed with butter- spread on a biscuit for breakfast. Mixed with whiskey and lemon make a good sore throat med..
I’m literally working on a whiskey, honey and lemon post right now! lol
honey in the oatmeal! honey in the tea! honey EVERYWHERE!
ALL DA HONEY THINGS!!! 😉
I love honey on homemade biscuits.
I consider myself a honey-eating connoisseur (which is a term I prefer to honey pig, which is more aptly stated), so it is difficult for me to choose just one favorite way I like to eat honey. It seems to be that lately I love to eat lemon creamed honey on cornbread…so yummy!
After trying these honey’s, I WANT to be a honey eating connoisseur! haha
Straight from the jar or smeared on bread for when my sugar cravings start
I do hot lemonade, so not eating, but drinking;)
In herbal teas!
I love honey. I use it on buttered toast and in my tea. I especially like making carrots with brown sugar, butter and honey…yummy
WOW, that sound decadent!!!!
I use honey in my homemade granola
I like it on biscuits!
I like honey in my oatmeal!
honey butter on fresh homemade biscuits
You must share your biscuit recipe! My husband LOOOOOVES making biscuits!
my favorite way to eat honey is on a peanut butter sandwich, thank you!
I like drizzling honey in my morning oatmeal!
I like to eat honey on a buttered biscuit or on a peanut butter sandwich. Thank you.
I love to use it in any recipe instead of sugar. And I really love plain Greek yogurt with just a drizzle of honey over it!
In my Oo long tea!!!
in sticks! I love buying the honey sticks. My mom actually bought me 200 of the honey sticks from a local for Christmas. 🙂
We love honey in our family. One favorite way is to put it on hot homemade biscuits.
I love honey in my smoothies, on my homemade ice cream and i like it on home made bread and tea, to make paleo muffins of cakes.
I love honey on crackers!
I add honey to my hot tea, when I bake or even when I cook, so many ways
I like honey in yogurt.
I make a honey pecan pie that is awesome!
Love it on toast with peanut butter
I love raw honey, my husband and I discovered it at Trader Joes and haven’t gone back!
I love using honey with lemon juice and hot water. I used to be a big tea drinker and this is now my hot beverage of choice.
I love whipping it up with some butter and honey, then serving over baked sweet potatoes!
I love honey on hot rolls or biscuits
I love honey on my toast
I love honey on english muffins!
I recently became inspired to use honey in my chocolate recipes. I am excited and curious about how different types of honey will affect the taste of the chocolates. Thanks for posting this review! <3
keeping my fingers crossed! I love honey especially when it is in pure form! I love eating it with my toast, peanubutter, straight out of the jar. A teaspoon a day is good for you I think!
What a Purrfect post! I love honey….. Pooh bear got me started, but I had no idea how good it is fur me! Thanks fur posting!
Well, besides right off the spoon….I found a recipe called Spicy Honey Chicken. Oh sweet Baby Jesus it’s awesome. It’s chicken thighs and a boatload of intense spices. They key ingredients are chipotle pepper, honey and apple cider vinegar. Oh my! You must try 🙂
On toast and in my hot teas. Thanks for a chance at a great win.
I like putting honey in hot herbal tea.
My faves are drizzled on peanut butter toast and as a marinade for chicken.
Awesome giveaway! !
Squee! Thank you so much!