The honeys
11 varieties, each with its own page covering the plant, the region, the season and how the honey behaves in the jar.
Clover honey
Mild and clean, straightforwardly sweet, with a soft floral finish. The reference point most New Zealanders have for what honey tastes like.
Rewarewa honey
Malty and caramel-like, with a burnt-sugar edge and a long finish. Assertive — it stands up in strong tea and on sharp cheese.
Kāmahi honey
Buttery and rich, often described as butterscotch, finishing with a slight, clean bitterness.
Pōhutukawa honey
Mild and smooth, with a delicate, slightly mineral finish. Subtle rather than sweet-forward.
Thyme honey
Strongly aromatic and herbal, warm and resinous, with a lingering savoury finish. Polarising, and a favourite of people who find clover honey bland.
Honeydew honey
Malty and treacly, markedly less sweet than floral honey, with a savoury, almost umami depth and a long finish.
Rātā honey
Delicate and clean, subtly sweet with a soft caramel note. Very little bitterness.
Tāwari honey
Smooth and creamy, butterscotch or vanilla-like, with low bitterness.
Kānuka honey
Mild, sweet and floral, without the damp-earth intensity of mānuka.
Blue borage honey
Very mild and clean, lightly floral, with a delicate finish.
Bush and multifloral honey
Mixed and generally fuller than clover: some maltiness from rewarewa, some butteriness from kāmahi, varying year to year.
Light to dark, at a glance
| Honey | Colour | Sets? |
|---|---|---|
| Clover honey | Water-white to pale straw when liquid; opaque white once set. | Readily, and finely. |
| Rewarewa honey | Deep amber with a reddish cast, noticeably darker than clover or kāmahi. | Slowly. |
| Kāmahi honey | Golden to mid-amber. | Moderately, to a smooth, fairly fine set. |
| Pōhutukawa honey | Very pale, near-white when crystallised. | Readily, to a very fine, smooth, pale set that spreads easily. |
| Thyme honey | Mid-amber, sometimes with a greenish cast. | Slowly, to a coarse set. |
| Honeydew honey | Dark amber to near-black, sometimes with a greenish tint held to the light. | Very slowly. |
| Rātā honey | Water-white to very pale gold; brilliant white when set. | Readily, to a very fine white set. |
| Tāwari honey | Pale gold. | Moderately, to a smooth, soft set. |
| Kānuka honey | Light to mid-gold, paler than mānuka. | Readily, to a smooth set. |
| Blue borage honey | Water-white, occasionally with a faint green cast. | Slowly, to a soft, fine set. |
Guides
Why honey goes hard, and how to bring it back
Honey is a supersaturated sugar solution holding more sugar than water can normally dissolve, so the glucose eventually comes out as crystals. Honeys …
Raw honey in New Zealand: what it means, where to buy it, what it costs
There is no legal definition of “raw” honey in New Zealand, so the word on a label is the producer's own description rather than a regulated claim. It…
How to read a New Zealand honey label
A New Zealand honey label must identify the food, give the net weight, name the producer or packer, and show a best-before date and country of origin.…
How to store honey (and why it doesn't go off)
Keep honey sealed, dry and at room temperature, in a cupboard away from the stove and out of the sun. Not in the fridge. Stored that way it keeps for …
Does honey expire? Best-before dates on NZ honey, explained
Not in the way most food does. Sealed, dry honey does not grow bacteria or mould, so it stays safe to eat for years and the date on a New Zealand jar …
Buying honey direct from a New Zealand beekeeper
Most New Zealand beekeepers selling direct do so through farmers' markets, their own website, or a roadside honesty box. Buying direct usually means s…
Clover, multifloral and liquid honey: what's the difference?
They describe different things. Clover names the flower the nectar came from. Multifloral means the bees worked a mix of flowers and no single one dom…
Coromandel honey: what the bees work on the peninsula, and how to buy it
The Coromandel is native forest and coastline, so its honey is mostly native: pōhutukawa off the coastal cliffs in December, rewarewa and tāwari from …
The best honey in New Zealand, by what you want it for
It depends what it is for. Clover is the best everyday and baking honey because it is mild and cheap. Rewarewa and beech honeydew are the best for str…
How much honey costs in New Zealand
In October 2026 everyday supermarket honey costs about $15 to $25 a kilo: a 500g jar of house-brand or clover honey is $7.39 to $11.19 at Woolworths. …
Creamed honey vs runny honey: what the difference actually is
Only the texture. Creamed honey is ordinary honey that has been encouraged to crystallise into very small, smooth crystals, so it spreads like butter …
New Zealand honey by region: what each part of the country produces
Honey follows what flowers. Pasture regions like Waikato, Manawatū, Canterbury and Southland produce mostly clover. Native-forest regions give the bus…
Common questions
- How many kinds of honey does New Zealand produce?
- More than most countries of its size, because of the range of native flowering trees. Beyond mānuka, the ones sold single-source include clover, rewarewa, kāmahi, pōhutukawa, rātā, tāwari, kānuka, thyme, blue borage and beech honeydew — each with a distinct colour and flavour.
- Which New Zealand honey is the mildest?
- Blue borage and rātā are the two palest and most delicate, followed by clover and pōhutukawa. If you find bush honeys too strong, start there. At the other end, rewarewa and beech honeydew are dark and malty.
- Is dark honey stronger than light honey?
- As a rule of thumb in New Zealand, yes — colour tracks flavour intensity fairly well. Pale honeys such as rātā, blue borage and pōhutukawa are delicate; dark ones such as rewarewa and honeydew are malty and assertive.
- What is the difference between honeydew and floral honey?
- Honeydew is not made from flower nectar at all. In South Island beech forests a scale insect feeds on sap and exudes a sugary droplet that bees collect. The honey is dark, markedly less sweet than floral honey, and stays liquid far longer.
- Where does mānuka fit in?
- Mānuka is its own category, defined by a Ministry for Primary Industries test and sold against grading systems such as UMF™. None of that applies to the honeys on this site, which are ordinary floral honeys sold on flavour and origin.