The 5 best honeys in Spain

Thanks to the diversity of crops, climates and floral characteristics of our country, Spain is a privileged place for the production of raw honey of the highest quality. Moreover, the ancient tradition of our Spanish beekeepers, who have passed on their knowledge and love of nature and bees from generation to generation, makes Spanish honey the best of the world. As a result, lovers of this natural product can therefore always expect the best in Spain. With this in consideration, we have compiled an amazing list of the best 5 Spanish honeys from all the varieties available in this country.

Index: The best honey of Spain Spanish regions with the best honey How to get the best honey in the World The most prestigious awards for the world’s best honey Honeys with the highest amount of antioxidants How to choose the best raw honey

Summary: Selection of the 5 best monofloral honeys in Spain. Therefore, unique honeys from the Iberian peninsula and the Canary Islands that stand out for their aromas, consistency and properties. This selection is made from more than thirty types of honeys produced in Spain. All of them are also available in our store in Las Rozas de Madrid. In addition, all of them are available in both organic and conventional production.

Related articles: Where to buy quality honey? Unpasteurised raw honey. Honey is fattening, myth or reality? Flowers for honey. The 5 best honeys in the world.

1. The best best honey of Spain

First of all, this selection has been made by visiting the places, the beekeepers, their packing rooms and their apiaries, analysing the quality and flavour of the enormous variety of Spanish monofloral honeys. Moreover, all of them are produced throughout Spain, more than 30, including both islands. However, the aroma and consistency will vary in each area, depending on the nature of the beekeeper’s work, the climatic characteristics of the year and some other factors. However, all of them will always have similar characteristics.

Therefore, after this selection, these are the best Spanish honeys that we have selected:

a) Rosemary honey

Rosemary honey is the most demanded spanish mono-floral honey, especially by children and for people who are looking for fine and smooth flavors. A smooth and very pleasant honey that is ideal to sweeten any dish or dessert.

With a high glucose content, this raw rosemary honey usually crystallizes among the first. It can turn entirely white once it has crystallized and there is no more honeydew present.

Throughout the central, southern, and eastern regions of Spain, rosemary grows in regions with a Mediterranean and continental climate. As such, it is found in southern and eastern Spain.

Photo 1: Rosemary honey of the brand Apícola Moreno

b) Heather honey

Heather honey is another honey highly coveted for its health properties. Especially by older people who have or want to avoid prostate problems (information indicated by our customers who buy this honey).

Likewise, heather honey is less sweet than many of the other different varieties of honey. Also, this honey has a unique toasted malt aroma. Therefore, a delicious honey that everyone should have in home. It is also dark as it is rich in minerals. It takes also a long time to crystallise. Furthermore, its crystallisation is fine and it always takes on a brown ochre colour.

Heather honey is obtained in the mountainous areas of Spain, mainly in the north. Within heather honey, we have calluna honey, which is a type of heather.

Photo 2: Heather honey of the brand Apícola Moreno

c) Eucalyptus honey

Eucalyptus honey is also highly desired to help cure sore throats, open nasal passages and constipation. All honeys are effective for these ailments. However, eucalyptus honey is the most effective of them, bacause it combines the properties of honey with those of eucalyptol, a component released by the eucalyptus flower.

Also, this honey has the typical eucalyptus aroma. Furthermore, it has a dark colour and when it crystallises it tends to have a brown colour that we can see below. In summary, a delicious honey that everyone should try.

It is therefore a very popular honey in Spain, especially during the cold season.

Mainly, eucalyptus honey is obtained from the large eucalyptus plantations in the north of Spain. Therefore, the vast majority of these honeys come from the north of Spain.

Photo 3. Eucalyptus honey of the brand Apícola Moreno

d) Thyme honey:

The fourth position is occupied by thyme honey. The main reason is for its properties for our health. This honey helps to reduce blood pressure and helps to combatse fatigue. In fact, this honey according to many research documentation is the most beneficial of all, even so healthy as Manuka honey.

Furthermore, this thyme honey also stands out for its powerful aroma and flavour. Its colour is brown and it takes normaly time to crystalize.

Thyme honey is obtained throughout Spain, where the continental and Mediterranean climate dominates. Consequently, in a large part of Spain.

A summary, other outstanding honeys from Spain which everybody should try.

 

Foto 4: Miel de tomillo de la marca Apícola Moreno

e) Lavender honey

Finally, in fifth position we have the lavender honey, another one widely bought in Spain. This honey is one of the richest and healthiest honeys from here. We usually associate lavender honey with perfumes and for that reason people have become a little suspicious of it, but when you try it without knowing which flower it comes from, it is one of the most coveted.

Therefore, lavender honey is a honey with a powerful aroma characteristic of lavender. If we smell this honey, its fruity aroma reminds us of the lavender fields of Guadalajara. A honey that everyone should have at home.

Photo 5: Lavender honey from the brand Apícola Moreno

All these honeys together with many more, are available in our online store or our physical store in Las Rozas de Madrid.

In this article, the best honeys in Spain, we have selected these 5 honeys as the best, but we do not want to underestimate other honeys that are produced in Spain.

All the honeys that we sell in our online and physical shop, have passed a rigorous quality control, because we have visited the places of production, we know well the beekeepers, the places of production, their facilities and where they place their hives, assuring that they take them to areas where good agricultural practices are followed and that the bees do not feed on fields that have been fumigated.

Other honeys.

Although we have listed these five honeys as the best in this article, we do not intend to diminish the value of other Spanish honeys. There are numerous others that are excellent and highly distinctive.

Additionally, each type of honey has unique qualities, particularly those derived from medicinal plants. As these plants provide nectar components, they are more medicinal. Although we have other honeys in the shop, like myrtle honey, the five honeys we have mentioned are obtained from medicinal plants.

Likewise, the rest of the other honeys are also very beneficial and depending on the taste of each one,. They will like more or less, it depends on your taste. So we encourage you to try them in our shop in Las Rozas de Madrid. Also, in this way you can take care of your health with these products provided by nature.

This selection has only been made with honeys that are produced in Spain, as there are other honeys such as manuka honey that are in great demand and are considered the best in the world.

In short, if a honey is of high quality, it is the best honey you can buy.

2. Spain’s best honey regions

Additionally, we have chosen the most distinctive honeys from throughout Spain. Certain regions of Spain are known for their exceptional honey production because of their unique climate, flora, and cultural practices. These regions of Spain are exceptional for honey production:

a) Madrid:

A considerable amount of honey is produced in Madrid. Among them we have the honeys of arbutus, rosemary, thyme and cantueso. Of these, thyme is the most characteristic of this region. There are also many beekeepers in Madrid. Among them are all the ones that we are currently working with:

• Antonio Simón: This beekeeper produces ecological honeys from a wide variety of flowers. Honey from chestnut, strawberry tree, lavender, rosemary, and thyme

We have selected this beekeeper, but maybe we will add  honey from for others from Madrid.

Photo 6: Gift basket with honeys from Madrid and Guadalajara

b) Asturias

Heather and calluna honey is the most characteristic type of honey in Asturias, due to the high altitude and frequent rainfall. The calluna is a heather variety. At the moment we don’t work with beekeepers in this region. However, we are looking for reliable beekeepers in the area. We hope to find a beekeeper from this area soon.

c) Galicia

In Galicia we also have a great variety of honeys, but the most outstanding are the chestnut and heather honeys. Although, basically, the chestnut honey.

d) Andalusia; Cádiz and Córdoba

In Andalusia we also have a many types of honeys. Although Andalusia is very wide, we bring from here spectacular orange blossom, strawberry tree and rosemary honeys. We are currently working with two beekeepers in Andalusia:

• Rancho Cortesano: A beekeeper from Jerez, in Cadiz. This beekeeper provides us with orange, chestnut, strawberry, oak, rosemary and thyme honeys.
• Montoro Honey: A beekeeper located in Montoro, in Cordoba. He places many of his hives in the Andujar Natural Park. He also provides them with myrtle, matalauva and lavender honey.
  We will also be bringing in honeys from Almeria in the near future.

e) Zamora

Among the best honeys of Zamora, we have our beekeeper from Las Obreras de Aliste. Honeys that are highly recognised both in Spain and abroad.

3. How to get the best honey in the World

It is not easy to produce the best honey.. Bearing in mind that the best honeys are raw honeys and that these have nothing to do with the industrial honeys that can be found on the market.

Therefore, to obtain a top quality honey, a great effort and knowledge in beekeeping is required. Firstly, a top quality honey must be obtained respecting all the times that a bee needs to produce honey. Secondly, the beekeeper must study where to place the combs in order to provide the bees with quality food. Finally, there are external factors that are difficult to control, such as the weather of each year.

With regard to the first point, honey must be extracted at the optimum time for it to be of high quality. Likewise, in specific areas of Spain, the flora and weather conditions produce honeys of enormous quality. Examples of this are the honeys produced in La Alcarria, Malaga, Galicia and other Designations of Origin.

Photo 7: Thousand-flower honey from La Alcarria

For this reason, not all honeys are the same and their prices are different. If you want a high quality honey, you should get the best advice or visit a shop specialised in selling honey.

On the other hand, there are honeys with very high prices, which have unique characteristics that are considered the best for their price. In this case, the most expensive honeys that we sell are manuka honey, honeys from Tenerife and the Azores.

4. Most prestigious awards for the world’s best honey.

Among the most prestigious international competitions on honey, we have the following:

a) London Honey Awards, in the United Kingdom

This is usually done in the spring in the UK. Here they select the best honey with a blind tasting.

Contact: http://www.londonhoneyawards.com/

b) Great Taste Awards, United Kingdom

Another competition that is also held in the United Kingdom. In this case, the honey is presented along with hundreds of other food products.

Contact: https://greattasteawards.co.uk/

c) Apimondia World Beekeeping Awards

This other international jury takes place in Turkey. In addition to honey, mead is also presented.

These are the most important international awards in the world. However, in Spain there are also many prizes, national, provincial and regional. All of them, make known and reward the best honeys.

5. Honeys with the highest amount of antioxidants

According to researcher Stefan Bogdanov, 2017, the best honeys with the highest amount of antioxidants are the following:

1. Buckwheat honey
2. Astragalus sinicus honey
3. Heather honey
4. Propolis
5. Manuka Honey
6. The strawberry tree honey
7. Chestnut honey
8. Carob honey

Of the eight, they are six of them available in our store in Las Rozas de Madrid. Although the first one was sometimes brought from Poland.

6. How to choose the raw honey that is best for you

Experts choose the best honeys according to a highly trained palate. However, this does not have to completely match your taste. When choosing the best honey for you, you should consider the following points:

1. Darker or lighter honeys, depends on what are you looking for. Lighter honeys for milder flavours and darker honeys for stronger flavours.
2. The state of the honey, liquid or crystallised. For this you will have to take into account the specific characteristics of each variety. For example, dark honeys such as heather and holm oak take longer to crystallise, and rosemary honey crystalizes soon.
3. The beekeeper should be someone you can trust. You can talk to the seller or the beekeeper to find out who is producing the honey.
4. You also have to see what you are going to use the honey for. If it is for a special dish, for toast, yoghurt, etc.

a) Which flower is the best honey for you?

We have previously classified monofloral honeys and also specific areas of Spain. However, the question of which type of flower is best for honey will depend on each person’s taste. Therefore, the best thing to do is to try the different monofloral honeys that are on the market. This way, you will be able to buy the honey that suits your taste and you will be able to know from which flower your favourite honey comes from.

Source:

The english newspaper The Guardian. Love you, honey

Best honeys of Europe.