Coromandel honey: what the bees work on the peninsula, and how to buy it

What honey comes from the Coromandel?

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 bush in late spring and early summer, kānuka and mānuka from regenerating scrub, and dark bush blends. Much of it is sold direct, by beekeepers on the peninsula.

Why the Coromandel is native-honey country

Unlike the Waikato on the other side of the ranges, the Coromandel Peninsula has little pasture clover and a great deal of native bush, regenerating scrub and pōhutukawa-lined coast. Bees work what is flowering, so hives on the peninsula produce honey from native trees and shrubs far more than from farmland flowers. That is what makes Coromandel honey worth seeking out.

The honeys, in flowering order

Rewarewa, late spring into early summer: native honeysuckle on bush margins, a rich, malty, amber honey.
Tāwari, November to December: from northern North Island forest, pale gold, smooth and creamy.
Pōhutukawa, December into January: off the coastal cliffs and shorelines, pale and sets almost white.
Mānuka and kānuka, summer: from the regenerating scrub that covers old cleared land on the peninsula. Kānuka typically flows slightly after mānuka where they grow together.
Bush blend, through summer: whatever the native forest is doing that season, often dark and strong.

Is rewarewa native to New Zealand?

Yes. Rewarewa, sometimes called New Zealand honeysuckle, is a native tree found only in New Zealand, common on bush edges through the central and northern North Island including the Coromandel. Its red, bottlebrush-like flowers give one of the best-known native honeys. Rewarewa honey has the detail.

What about Coromandel mānuka?

Mānuka grows widely on the peninsula, and Coromandel mānuka is sold like mānuka from anywhere else: it has to pass the government's mānuka test to be called mānuka, and graded jars carry a UMF™ or MGO figure. A jar that just says "Coromandel honey" is more likely a bush blend or a single native flower, which is often the better buy if you're after flavour rather than a grade.

How to buy honey in the Coromandel

Much Coromandel honey is sold the old way: roadside stalls and honesty boxes along the coast roads, stalls at local markets, and beekeepers' own online shops. Buying direct usually means honey from one site and one season — and the chance to ask what was done to it.

Which flower, and where on the peninsula were the hives?
One site and season, or blended?
Was it heated or fine-filtered?
How do they know the floral source?

Buying honey direct from a New Zealand beekeeper covers what a fair price reflects and what the answers tell you. We don't list or rank producers; we point at what a producer states on their own site.

Why one year's jar tastes different from the next

Native trees don't flower evenly every year. A strong pōhutukawa season one December can be followed by a weak one, and rewarewa is known for patchy years. Single-source Coromandel honey varies with that — which is evidence that it really is single-source, rather than a fault.

Still not sure which honey to buy? Ask us a questionand we’ll reply by email.