Attractive amber – gold liquid honey with lots of character and a distinct leathery, barnyard nose. Caramel, malt and butterscotch flavours. Great with figs, almonds, gingerbread, waffles, scones, pancakes and ricotta. Also good in poultry marinades.
Pohutukawa Honey
Ongahi, Coromandel
Beekeeper: Andrea and Shayne
Profile
The Pohutukawa (Metsiderosis excelsa) is one of New Zealand’s favourite and most well-known native trees that cling to the coastlines of New Zealand. Each summer the trees are covered in masses of brilliant crimson flowers. Flowering peaks in December, hence the reason why Pohutukawa trees are often referred as New Zealand’s Christmas Tree. The flowering of Pohutukawa can be very erratic making Pohutukawa honey very challenging to collect and a very rare treat.
Pohutukawa honey is collected from hives nestled in remote coastal corners of the beautiful Coromandel peninsula.
Vintage Notes
Harvested in the long hot summer of 2010.
Tasting Notes
Pale gold in colour and deliciously syrupy. Soft floral aromas with hints of the seaside. A very good match with a hard sheep’s cheese like pecorino.
Manuka Honey Active 13+
Addisons Flat, Buller
Beekeeper: Gary
Profile
Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) is an abundant native scrub that is found throughout New Zealand. It is otherwise known as New Zealand tea-tree and is well known for its medicinal anti-bacterial qualities. Its small white flowers bloom during spring and summer with peak flowering from November to January.
West Coast Manuka Honey is sourced from the coastline of the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island, known for its isolation, rugged mountains and dense native forests.
The remote location of the harvest adds its own distinct mark to the aroma and flavour of this honey. Locating the hives in the wild West Coast forests where there is an abundant concentration of Manuka for the honeybees to feast on creates the finest quality Manuka honey. West Coast Manuka honey is very pure making it much sweeter and more refined than your average Manuka honey.
Vintage Notes
Harvested in March 2009, lots of rainfall on the West Coast ensured plenty of moisture in the soil, resulting in a very good yield of outstanding quality.
Tasting Notes
Golden chestnut in colour with intense aromas- toasted, malty and spicy. Intense chewy caramel and fudgy toffee-apple flavours. Good acidity makes it great in gingerbread, spicy date and nut loaf or hot cross buns. Use for bread making, with yogurt and muesli, or take a spoonful on its own for a hit of energy and immune boosting.
Click here to buy Manuka honey active 13+ now.
Vipers Bugloss Honey
Clarence Valley, Muzzle Station
Beekeeper: Lucy and AJ
Profile
Vipers Bugloss (Vipers Bugloss)is a wild flower that grows in dry, mountainous valleys and rivers. It thrives in the Clarence Valley nestled amongst the 6000ft Kaikoura Ranges in central Marlborough in New Zealand’s South Island. The rugged valley is well known for its hot, dry summers.
Muzzle station is a remote 30,000 hectare high-country sheep and cattle station in the heart of the Clarence Valley. It is one of the most isolated stations in New Zealand. Muzzle station is only accessible by road on a four-wheel drive track that reaches 4000 feet, or by air in a light plane when the weather is good, and is impassable in winter due to snow
From December to March, vivid blue fields of tall Vipers Bugloss wildflowers cover the mountain and riversides across the valley.
Vintage Notes
Harvested in April 2009, the hot dry summer created a very pure Vipers Bugloss honey.
Tasting Notes
Pale beige colour, aroma varies from sweet floral to deep, slightly earthy tones. Very floral flavour, though not too sweet, with hints of vanilla and spice. Try a little with some good blue cheese.
Northern Rata - Limited Release
Wakamarama Range, Kahurangi National Park
Beekeeper: Frazer & Kerry
Profile
We are proud to introduce our latest honey- Northern Rata Honey 2009 collected from the Wakamarama Range in the majestic Kahurangi National Park. Northern Rata honey collected in a good flowering year result in an exceptionally pure, high quality honey, pale in colour, mellow and buttery with a smooth creamy finish. Northern Rata honey is not overly sweet and has hints of earthy mushroom, making it a good match for cheese such as Camembert and Brie or fuller flavoured washed rind varieties. Syrupy notes go with figs or spiced pears. Its diverse flavour profile makes it a great all round honey suitable for a wide variety of culinary purposes.
Vintage Notes
Harvested February 2009. The flowering of the Northern Rata, (Metrosideros robusta) is extremely sporadic, some years there is almost none while other years the flowering is prolific. Luckily for us 2009 was a very good flowering year resulting in a very pure Northern Rata honey.
Due to the irregularity of supply of exceptional quality Northern Rata honey, J.Friend and Co: NZ Artisan Northern Rata honey is a limited release honey.
Tasting Notes
Pale and creamy in colour with a rich, floral fragrance of hot summer grass.
Manuka Honey Active 14+
Muzzle Station, Clarence Valley
Beekeeper: Lucy and AJ
Profile
Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) is an abundant native scrub that is found throughout New Zealand. It is otherwise known as New Zealand tea-tree and is well known for its medicinal anti-bacterial qualities. It’s small white flowers bloom during spring and summer with peak flowering season from November to January.
NZ Artisan Manuka Honey active 14+ is sourced from Muzzle station high country farm in the Clarence Valley of New Zealand’s South Island.The remote location of the harvest adds its own distinct mark to the aroma and flavour of this honey. Locating the hives in the remote valleys of Muzzle Station where there is an abundant concentration of Manuka for the honeybees to feast on creates the finest quality Manuka honey. J.Friend and Co: NZ Artisan Manuka Honey active 14+ is very pure and more refined than your average Manuka honey.
Vintage Notes
Harvested in February 2009. NZ Artisan Manuka Honey active 14+ is dark amber in colour. It is a complex, intense and chewy honey with rich toffee and caramel flavours and coconut, woody, nutty notes. This honey has a slightly bitter lingering finish and a very smooth pleasant texture.
Tasting Notes
Golden chestnut in colour with intense aromas- toasted, malty and spicy. Intense chewy caramel and fudgy toffee-apple flavours. Good acidity makes it great in gingerbread, spicy date and nut loaf or hot cross buns. Use for bread making, with yogurt and muesli, or take a spoonful on its own for a hit of energy and immune boosting.
Raw Honeycomb
Karamea Bluffs, West Coast
Beekeeper: Gary
Vintage: February 2010
Profile.
J.Friend and Co Raw Honeycomb is collected from native rainforests found on the rugged and isolated Wet Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Each Honeycomb contains a unique and delicious blend of Rata, Mahoe, Putaputaweta and Kamahi honey. Completely pure and unprocessed our Raw Honeycomb is carefully cut and packaged by hand shortly after harvest.
Vintage
Harvested February 2010
Tasting Notes
Initially savoury with spicy notes particularly caraway finishing with intense golden syrup sweetness.
Perfect on hot crunchy toast and crumpets so the wax softens in the heat equally stunning as a dessert with fruit and good ricotta or thick yoghurt.
The ultimate addition to a cheeseboard, partnered with sharp, nutty and salty cheeses such as strong blues, maasdam or pecorino.
