# Honey tastes "smokey"



## snarky (Oct 6, 2006)

I have had a few people say that some of my honey has a smoky flavor
WHere did that come from?


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## mike haney (Feb 9, 2007)

did you heat it?


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## okbees (Nov 3, 2010)

Sometimes the "smokey" taste is really an earthy taste from the wildflowers....most people are not use to all natural raw honey, and if the honey is real dark, it sometimes taste earthy or strong. Does the honey taste smokey to you?


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

From your smoker?


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## krad1964 (Jun 4, 2011)

I think sourwood honey has that smokey/woody taste.


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## tefer2 (Sep 13, 2009)

How did you remove the bee's from your honey supers to extract them ?


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## T0ADMAN (Aug 5, 2011)

Sounds delicious to me


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## lazy shooter (Jun 3, 2011)

A lot of barbeque sauses are honey based, make it into a fance barbeque sause and market it.


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## snarky (Oct 6, 2006)

I didn't heat it, used a brush to get the bees off the combs I extracted
Had a strong taste to it, but not "Smoky" to me - I had BBQ pork to compare it too.

Know any good BBQ sauce recipes?


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

You say some of your honey, implying you have different kinds. I find it to be a great sales aid to offer multiple kinds so the customer can demonstrate their decerning taste buds by selecting their favorite. It works best giving samples to those who declare all honey tastes the same. Everything is a positive if you are a salesman.


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## lazy shooter (Jun 3, 2011)

Over in the South and down in Texas, most barbeque folks use a sweeter barbeque sauce on pork. Most cooks sweeten their sauce with brown sugar, but some of my old pals use a combinaion of honey, catsup, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. The base in honey and makes up half or more of the total. Honey is yummy good in BBQ sauce.

I have tasted dark honey that had a subtle smokey taste, but I like all honey. My favorite honey comes from White Brush in Central Texas. Some folks call it bee brush. The honey is a very light yellow color.


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## willyC (May 6, 2010)

Funny, this morning I had a friend over for breakfast. He commented on the earthy almost smoky taste of the honey, so we compared it to honey from a hive located 1/2 mile 
away form the honey we were slathering on the biscuits, much "milder" less "full bodied" both wonderful in their own unique way. I equate it to micro brew beer. Love the variety!


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## Guest (May 3, 2014)

Im an American in china. An came across a farmer. I bought some honey so good and not too sweet. You can taste the flowers and after a smokey taste. I wonder how they get it.


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## SallyD (Mar 12, 2011)

I am not sure what smokey honey would taste like but I have heard that if you use your smoker too much that your honey could taste like smoke.


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## Matt NY (Jan 14, 2006)

Michael Palmer said:


> From your smoker?


Bingo. I now use very little, if any smoke when removing supers.


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## tsmullins (Feb 17, 2011)

A few years ago my mentor had some honey that was "smokey". It was very tasty. My mentor handled his supers very carefully, so it is very doubtful the smokey taste came from his smoker. This was one of my favorite all time honeys.


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## Bkwoodsbees (Feb 8, 2014)

Sounds like you can market it as gourmet. More money!


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

I pressure can my salmon with honey and a few drops of liquid smoke (Black pepper, garlic and a pinch of salt) 
Smokey honey is delicious!


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

One thing that might help is to keep your cappings honey separate from your spun extracted honey. My first year I used pine needles for smoker fuel...the honey that drained from the cappings (from a heating cappings tank) was *very* smokey tasting. Since then I switched to wood pellets and haven't had that problem again.

Ed


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## va novice beekeeper (Aug 20, 2015)

Wow! I thought it was just me...I just got my very first honey from my new hive this year. I was super excited to be able to try my first taste of sweetness..... and the whole thing smelled like smoke. I used pine needles also. I could not figure it out at first, and kept telling myself I was just my imagination. I personally do not like the taste of it at all. So I am going to definitely switch to different smoker fuel and go a little easier with the smoker all together. Man I though I was going to be the only one......now I know I am not alone.


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