Types of New Zealand honey
New Zealand produces an unusual range of single-source honeys for a country its size, because so many of its native trees flower heavily and in sequence. Here is each one: the plant, the region, the season, and what ends up in the jar.
| Honey | From | Where | Flavour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clover honey | Trifolium repens (white clover) | Pasture country throughout New Zealand | Mild and clean, straightforwardly sweet, with a soft floral finish. |
| Rewarewa honey | Knightia excelsa (New Zealand honeysuckle) | North Island native forest | Malty and caramel-like, with a burnt-sugar edge and a long finish. |
| Kāmahi honey | Weinmannia racemosa | Native forest through the lower North Island | Buttery and rich, often described as butterscotch, finishing with a slight, clean bitterness. |
| Pōhutukawa honey | Metrosideros excelsa | Coastal Northland | Mild and smooth, with a delicate, slightly mineral finish. |
| Thyme honey | Thymus vulgaris (wild thyme) | Central Otago | Strongly aromatic and herbal, warm and resinous, with a lingering savoury finish. |
| Honeydew honey | Beech forest honeydew (Nothofagus spp.) | South Island beech forests | Malty and treacly, markedly less sweet than floral honey, with a savoury, almost umami depth and a long finish. |
| Rātā honey | Metrosideros umbellata / Metrosideros robusta | West Coast of the South Island | Delicate and clean, subtly sweet with a soft caramel note. |
| Tāwari honey | Ixerba brexioides | Northern North Island forest | Smooth and creamy, butterscotch or vanilla-like, with low bitterness. |
| Kānuka honey | Kunzea ericoides | Widespread across both islands on regenerating scrubland | Mild, sweet and floral, without the damp-earth intensity of mānuka. |
| Blue borage honey | Echium vulgare (viper's bugloss) | South Island high country and braided riverbeds | Very mild and clean, lightly floral, with a delicate finish. |
| Bush and multifloral honey | Mixed native and pasture sources | Anywhere with mixed native forest | Mixed and generally fuller than clover: some maltiness from rewarewa, some butteriness from kāmahi, varying year to year. |
Why New Zealand has so many
Two reasons. The native forest flora is dominated by heavy-flowering trees — rewarewa, kāmahi, rātā, pōhutukawa, tāwari — that produce nectar in quantity, and they flower at different times and in different places, so hives can be moved to catch a single flow cleanly. Add naturalised introductions such as wild thyme in Central Otago and viper’s bugloss in the high country, plus pasture clover, and a small country ends up with a long list.
How to choose one
Colour is the shortcut. Pale honeys — rātā, blue borage, pōhutukawa, clover — are mild and delicate. Dark ones — rewarewa, beech honeydew — are malty, assertive and much less sweet. Thyme sits on its own: aromatic and herbal rather than simply strong. For a straight answer by use — toast, tea, baking, cheese, a gift — see the best New Zealand honey for each job, and for where each one is produced, NZ honey by region. For what each costs on the shelf, see honey prices in NZ, per kilo.