Five NZ honey types, in plain English
What each one tastes like, what botanical it comes from, when the flowers run, and — for mānuka — what the UMF and MGO numbers actually mean in the jar.
UMF and MGO, the short version
Only mānuka uses UMF and MGO ratings. UMF (Unique Mānuka Factor) is the trade-mark grading scheme run by the UMF Honey Association — 5+, 10+, 15+, 20+, 25+. MGO (methylglyoxal, in mg/kg) is the underlying chemical reading the UMF tier is anchored to.
- UMF 5+ ≈ MGO 83+ — table-grade
- UMF 10+ ≈ MGO 263+ — common retail tier
- UMF 15+ ≈ MGO 514+ — stronger therapeutic-tier
- UMF 20+ ≈ MGO 829+ — premium, scarce
- UMF 25+ ≈ MGO 1200+ — collector-tier
Higher tier ≠ better honey for every use. A UMF 5+ on toast is a delight; a UMF 20+ is for wounds, throats, and the occasional stubbornness about getting your money's worth.
Mānuka
Leptospermum scoparium
The famous one. The complicated one.
The honey New Zealand is internationally known for. Deep amber, thick, slightly bitter, and graded by UMF and MGO ratings that measure its non-peroxide antibacterial activity. Most of what's labelled 'mānuka' overseas isn't — the MPI definition matters.
- Flowers
- Late Nov – early Feb
- Colour
- Deep amber to dark brown
Clover
Trifolium repens / Trifolium pratense
The everyday honey that NZ baking is built on.
Clover honey is what most New Zealanders grew up on — light, mild, dependable. Produced from white clover and red clover pasture across the dairy regions of Canterbury, Marlborough, the Manawatū and the Waikato. The honey of toast and Anzac biscuits.
- Flowers
- Nov – Mar
- Colour
- Light gold
Rewarewa
Knightia excelsa
The native honeysuckle's quiet, malty cult favourite.
Rewarewa — sometimes called New Zealand honeysuckle — is the dark, malty single-flora native honey from the bush of the Bay of Plenty, Coromandel and inland Northland. Locals will quietly tell you they prefer it to mānuka. They're often right.
- Flowers
- Oct – Dec
- Colour
- Reddish-amber
Pōhutukawa
Metrosideros excelsa
The Christmas-tree honey from the coastal North Island.
The pohutukawa, NZ's iconic crimson Christmas tree, flowers right at the start of summer along the coastal North Island. The honey from its blooms is light, soft, faintly salty from the sea air, and remarkably hard to find outside boutique apiaries — most pohutukawa stands are too small or too remote for commercial harvest.
- Flowers
- Late Nov – early Jan
- Colour
- Pale gold
Multifloral & Bush Blend
Various — region-dependent
The everyday honey of a particular bush, a particular year.
Bush blends — multifloral honeys that capture whatever was in flower in a given region in a given season. Often the most interesting jars in NZ, because they tell you what the land was doing that summer. Rewarewa-and-mānuka bush blends, beech honeydew, kāmahi and tāwari, thyme-and-tussock from Central.
- Flowers
- Nov – Apr
- Colour
- Mid-amber