Honey: Varieties

The flavour and colour of honey are highly variable. Much of the honey on sale in most countries is from clover and similar field crops. Its flavour is mild and its taste sweet. Although honey can be nearly one and a quarter times as sweet as the same quantity of sucrose, owing to its high fructose content, it tastes less sweet to the palate because of the other flavouring substances it contains. This applies particularly to honeys made from scented flowers, each of which having a distinctive flavour thanks to aromatic substances from the flowers. Colour is due to plant pigments, and ranges from white through red and green to black. Texture also varies with the relative amounts of dextrose and fructose. Dextrose crystallizes more rapidly than fructose, making for a more granular honey, such as that from clover, alfalfa, and buckwheat.