The honey profiles below were developed by the NZ industry in 2003-2004
| Appearance | Pollen | Organoleptic | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variety | Colour | PFUND | Frequency | Count Range | Aroma | Flavour | Notes |
| Clover | Light pale gold | 0-60mm | 45% | 100,000 st dev 90,000 | Herbal dry grass. | Clean mild, sweet, delicate | |
| Honeydew (Beech) |
Medium dark amber | 87.2 mm std 10.5 |
Musky | Complex, treacly | Average 12.6 mS/cm Std 2.5 Micro-sooty moulds |
||
| Kamahi | Light to pale yellow | 42 average std 11.5 |
45% | 185 000 Ave 66 834 st dev |
Intense, musky, quite complex. Dominate aroma | Very clean rich and sweet distinctive aftertaste, Buttery texture | Dominant aroma |
| Manuka/ Kanuka |
Dark cream to dark brown | 84 mm 11.8mm std | 70% | 517,000 ave 280,000 st dev |
Damp earth, heather, aromatic | Mineral, slightly bitter, | Thixotropic in liquid state |
| Nodding Thistle | Colourless to pale lemon | Low pollen count | Perfumed floral blossom, intense. | Intense floral flavour, | Dominance of fructose, Slow natural granulation. | ||
| Pohutukawa | Off-white | Pure 0-5 Blends 5-30 |
10-15% | Musky, damp leaves, salty (almost seaweed, but pleasant) | Clean earthy sweet butterscotch | Very rapid granulation, days in comb, hours in tank | |
| Rata | Colourless to Pale cream | 16.4mm 8.6 |
45% | 123,000 35,937 st dev |
Heady aromatic | Sweet, distinctive, mildly salty | |
| Rewarewa | Amber to red | 92.9mm std 9.2mm | Bird pollinated plant | 112,800 ave 101,867 st dev |
Light aroma mild mixed fruit | Clean sweet smoky malty | |
| Tawari | Light | 23mm std 8.8 |
Low pollen count | Rich perfumed musk/incense/sandalwood orange peel/liquorice | Clean musty rosehip syrup, very sweet golden syrup | High in moisture Doesn't fully Granulate |
|
| Thyme | Amber | 105 mm | More than 20% | 3000-8000 per 10g Total thyme pollen grains | Pervasive very aromatic, | Resinous aromatic herbal, very strong | Very unique, dominant aroma |
| Vipers Bugloss / Blue Borage | Light Pinkish Brown | 21.7mm st 9 | 45% | 72,155 ave 38,699 st dev |
Initial floral, bouquet when fresh | Clean tasting mildly herbal | Oily texture |
A scale used in the honey industry to describe the color of honey. Measurements were originally made with the Pfund color grader, which consists of a wedge of amber-colored glass next to a wedge-shaped cell which is filled with honey. The instrument is read visually; the reading is the distance the wedge must be moved to make a match, and is expressed in millimeters.Sign Up to Volunteer & help NZ Honey Origin to get this project off the ground!