Taste, word by word
Rare honey glossary
Twenty-five precise entries to understand the origins, the textures and the gestures that shape a honey, with no jargon and no overblown promises.
Graines de Pèlerins
A Glossary of Rare Honey
Every term you need to make sense of the world of rare honey. From A to Z.
A
Apis dorsata
The giant bee of South-East Asia, which produces Tualang honey in Malaysia. It builds its combs in Koompassia excelsa trees 80 m above the ground.
Apiarist · nomadic
A beekeeper who moves the hives with the flowering. Our White Honey from Kyrgyzstan (sainfoin) is harvested by nomads who take their hives above 2,500 m for the season.
B
Bee to jar (raw honey)
Honey that has been through no transformation at all: unheated, not industrially filtered, never blended. It keeps its natural structure and its live enzymes, and it always crystallises in the end. All our honeys are raw.
C
Crystallisation
The natural process by which honey sets into crystals. It is a mark of authenticity: a honey that never crystallises has been heated to death. To loosen it, stand the jar for 10 min in a bowl of lukewarm water (never the microwave).
Cold-extracted (raw honey)
Another way of saying bee to jar. Honey never heated above 40°C, which preserves its enzymes, its pollens and its most fragile aromas.
G
Grayanotoxins
Psychoactive compounds found in the rhododendron honey (“Mad Honey”) of Nepal and Turkey. They bring on a feeling of heat, mild hallucination and a drop in blood pressure. To be handled with care.
H
Habba Sawda (حبة سوداء)
The Arabic name for Nigella sativa, literally “black seed”. Present in the cooking and the traditions of the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years. At the origin of our Egyptian Black Seed Honey (Nigella).
J
Jujube · the Sidr tree (Ziziphus spina-christi)
A centuries-old tree of the Yemeni valleys whose flowers open for only 2 to 4 weeks a year. The source of Yemeni Sidr Honey, one of the rarest honeys in the world.
L
Leptospermum scoparium
The scientific name of Manuka, a shrub from New Zealand. The source of Manuka honey, known for its MGO rating.
M
Mad Honey
The “hallucinogenic” honey of Nepal and Turkey, made by giant bees from the nectar of wild rhododendrons. It contains grayanotoxins.
Manuka
A New Zealand honey from the flowers of Leptospermum. Known for its MGO rating. Read our Yemeni Sidr Honey vs Manuka comparison →
MGO (methylglyoxal)
A compound naturally present in Manuka honey. The higher the MGO (100, 250, 400, 550, 800+), the higher the price.
Monofloral (honey)
A honey made from the nectar of one dominant flower species. Our Black Seed Honey and our Yemeni Sidr Honey are both single-flower honeys.
N
Nigella sativa
The scientific name of black seed, a plant of the buttercup family whose black seeds (Habba Sawda) have been used since antiquity. Grown mainly in Egypt, Ethiopia and India.
P
Pasteurisation
Heating honey above 65°C, which destroys its enzymes, its pollens and its live character. Industrial honeys are pasteurised so that they stay liquid for a long time. Ours never are.
Polyphenols
A family of plant compounds naturally present in many raw honeys. They play a part in the colour, the aromas and the character of a honey.
R
Rhododendron (honey)
Another name for Mad Honey. Produced in the Himalayas. A mild psychoactive effect at high doses.
S
Sidr honey
The Arabic name for the honey of the Yemeni jujube tree. Reckoned one of the rarest honeys on the planet: around 200 tonnes of world production a year. See our Yemeni Sidr Honey →
T
Thymoquinone
The compound characteristic of the black seed (Nigella sativa), naturally present in small quantities in black seed honey.
Tien Shan
The mountain range in eastern Kyrgyzstan where our White Honey is harvested, at more than 2,500 m.
Traceability, jar by jar
Our commitment: every jar is traced from the hive to the customer. Origin, beekeeper and harvest batch can all be identified.
Tualang
A Malaysian honey produced by Apis dorsata bees in Koompassia excelsa trees. Harvested at night, 80 m up, by the Orang Asli.
V
Virgin (honey)
The term for a raw, unheated honey that still holds its active enzymes.
W
Wadi Do'an
A valley in Yemen, in the Hadhramaut, held to be one of the last true production areas for Yemeni Sidr honey.
Z
Ziziphus spina-christi
The scientific name of the Yemeni jujube, source of Yemeni Sidr honey. A centuries-old tree that flowers only once a year.