# What flowers make honey taste bad?



## debcst5823 (Mar 12, 2014)

*What weeds or plants, that have blooms and flowers make honey taste bad?*


----------



## mark williams (Jan 19, 2003)

Don't know about the taste,But when they are bring in Goldenrod sure don't smell good,
The honey from it taste alright.Mark,,,,,,,


----------



## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

Any nicotiana, tobacco wild or otherwise. Leafy spurge.


----------



## grozzie2 (Jun 3, 2011)

Buckwheat. It produces a revolting flavor of honey.


----------



## WBVC (Apr 25, 2013)

Rhododendrons honey is supposedly toxic.


----------



## Ryan Williamson (Feb 28, 2012)

Ohh let's add Ailanthus altissima to the list too. I hear that it has a very bitter tasting honey.


----------



## heaflaw (Feb 26, 2007)

Privet Hedge


----------



## Almondralf (Jun 20, 2011)

Almonds!


----------



## Millenia (Apr 8, 2014)

Really? Privet tastes bad? We have tons of privet growing wild and it always smells wonderful. Now I'm sad.


----------



## Ramona (Apr 26, 2008)

What is "bad" or "revolting" to some is delicious and extremely desirable to others.

When we give tastes of goldenrod honey it is clear that there are camps...some customers make a face, for others it is their favorite and they will buy in increasingly larger jars.

I could sell buckwheat honey at every market if I had it.

I've eaten pure almond comb honey and loved it. Yes, it is bitter but I love bitter foods. It reminded me a little of a sweet inner part of a peach pit.

Go by how the honey tastes to you and your potential customers, not by fear of something tasting "bad". There is someone for every honey!

Ramona


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Buckwheat. It produces a revolting flavor of honey. 

And yet it sells for $13 or more a pound...

A lot of it is in the taste buds of the consumer. But I have had a few honey's that had a bad aftertaste, like cough medicine... not sure what they were from. Knowing bees, it could be from cough syrup...


----------



## brooksbeefarm (Apr 13, 2008)

Fall Bitter weed is the only honey that taste bad to me.


----------



## dputt88 (Jul 27, 2013)

Ryan Williamson said:


> Ohh let's add Ailanthus altissima to the list too. I hear that it has a very bitter tasting honey.


if you ever break a branch of this you should smell it, some say it smells strongly of motor oil, i think it smells like peanut butter, lol. sorry to get off topic...


----------



## marant (Jan 18, 2014)

Don't know about what tastes bad, but I had a small sample of chile pequin hot honey and that is when I had to get a hive!


----------



## tommysnare (Jan 30, 2013)

mark williams said:


> Don't know about the taste,But when they are bring in Goldenrod sure don't smell good,


u can sure sya that again !!
smells like old gym socks and fritos ewwwwwww hahahaha. its pretty much all i can smell for a week after i first open the hives after winter lol. but, i really do like the taste.


----------



## Kiran (Jan 27, 2014)

grozzie2 said:


> Buckwheat. It produces a revolting flavor of honey.


Some people don't like it, but many (including me) find it delicious.


----------



## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

heaflaw said:


> Privet Hedge



Surely you jest. I LOVE privet honey. It's dark and strong. Probably my favorite honey of all. Ya'll can keep that barely colored clover honey and I'll take the privet!


----------



## heaflaw (Feb 26, 2007)

Brad Bee said:


> Surely you jest. I LOVE privet honey. It's dark and strong. Probably my favorite honey of all. Ya'll can keep that barely colored clover honey and I'll take the privet!


Yep, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.


----------



## grozzie2 (Jun 3, 2011)

Michael Bush said:


> >Buckwheat. It produces a revolting flavor of honey.
> 
> And yet it sells for $13 or more a pound...
> 
> A lot of it is in the taste buds of the consumer.


I've got a bottle of it here. Tastes just the way a stale urinal smells. I couldn't give it away around here. It's just revolting. We did a 'honey tasting' some time back with some friends, had 7 different floral honey types. 3 of our friends actually spat the buckwheat honey out onto the table.


----------



## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

I think we all have different taste buds. I bet mixing the clover and buckwheat will taste good though with the right
combination of course. Remember that bees will forage a 3 mile radius for pollen and nectar. So your honey might 
be a mixture of different nectar combined. So what you thought is one type of honey might be something else mixed in.
Try diluting the strong smell with a mild honey to soothe your taste. I am still thinking how to make the eucalyptus honey
taste better that they harvest in the Spring and Fall. It tastes almost like cough drop or menthol/camphor medicine flavor.


----------



## tsmullins (Feb 17, 2011)

grozzie2 said:


> Buckwheat. It produces a revolting flavor of honey.


The first time I had buckwheat honey from the store, it was bad. But, Buckwheat honey that is "raw" is very tasty, IMO.

Shane


----------



## Silverbackotter (Feb 23, 2013)

You probably won't have to worry about bad tasting honey in Lander. I don't know but you will probably be relying on alfalfa mostly.


----------



## luke0927 (Aug 16, 2011)

There are different types of privet the variety you find mostly in GA makes good honey. (sorry can't remember name off hand)

meant to quote Mellina on that as were both in GA.


----------



## debcst5823 (Mar 12, 2014)

Yes we do have mostly alfalfa thanks!


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>I am still thinking how to make the eucalyptus honey taste better that they harvest in the Spring and Fall. It tastes almost like cough drop or menthol/camphor medicine flavor. 

I buy it at a premium. I love it. Maybe not as much as sourwood, but it's up in my top ten.


----------



## Broke-T (Jul 9, 2008)

We have a strong privet flow and it is light and mild tasting. Just had a bee meeting and a lady said she has started planting buckwheat and it makes great honey. I think the soil that a plant is growing in can make a lot of difference in the flavor of the nectar.

Johnny


----------



## RudyT (Jan 25, 2012)

So many of us have palates trained on blended clover honey, sugar, and sweeteners...
I let new customers know -- as a positive -- that fresh honey may have more intense flavors than they get at the grocery store (just like fresh local vegetables have more flavor). Also that honey can taste different every season -- sometimes every week. (I prefer some varieties of tomatoes, potatoes, corn, lettuce, etc. more than others. But I like to experience the variety.) Honey tastings are fun!


----------



## rosewitch44 (4 mo ago)

grozzie2 said:


> Buckwheat. It produces a revolting flavor of honey.


 I bought some honey and it tastes like the smell of manure if that makes any sense…now I don’t know what to do with it….throw it out I guess…it literally makes me gag.


----------



## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

rosewitch44 said:


> I bought some honey and it tastes like the smell of manure if that makes any sense…now I don’t know what to do with it….throw it out I guess…it literally makes me gag.


Buckwheat honey is high in antioxidants. My teenage son prefers to use Buckwheat honey in his tea when he feels like he is coming down with something. It's certainly not a "table honey" in my opinion, but it does have its use.


----------

