September is National Honey Month and there are so many reasons to celebrate! Honey Month helps us support our local beekeepers, pollinators, and the larger beekeeping community. Honey bees have worked hard to pollinate our local fruits and vegetables all summer long while producing some of the best honey around!
At Calef’s we love honey and consider it a top natural sweetener. We have seen amazing local vendors transform this natural ingredient into a variety different products from speciality foods to skincare. This honey month support the beekeeping industry by trying to incorporate more honey and local products into your routine.
Calef’s always has a great supply of local honey and honey based products. We have featured a few customer favorites here, with even more options at the store!
Calef’s Honey Straws
The store’s Honey Straws display is a long-time customer favorite. Always stocked with a variety of flavors, these straws are a quick and healthy snack. And yes, there is an easy way to open these! Our favorite is to hold one end of the straw, bite or pinch the seam, and the end will pop open. Then just slide your thumb and forefinger up the straw to push the sweet nectar into your mouth or beverage. We recommend grabbing a stack of these, resisting the urge to drink the straws, and saving them instead to flavor coffee or tea. Great for the office, road trips, or hiking.
Zen Bear Organic Honey Tea
Zen Bear is a local, New Hampshire, family-owned company. We love that all their honey teas are gluten-free, dairy-free, and made with the finest ingredients. Available in variety of flavors, each jar is a balance of flavors that, depending on your selection, will invigorate, sooth, or even calm. Crafted with care and precision the blend of spices can promote joy and wellness with some tea selections rich in antioxidants and health boosting spices and honey.
The easy brewing helps make each cup consistently delicious. For the perfect brew, simply add the honey tea to a cup of hot water, stir and enjoy. Select teas make great iced drinks too. Add a spoonful of honey tea to room temperature water, stir until melted, and finish with a few ice cubes.
Bottled Wildflower and Clover Honey
Calef’s offers the best selection of local honey! Ben’s Sugar Shack Wildflower Honey is a New Hampshire staple. As well as Calef’s own Clover Honey, also available online. Ben’s Sugar Shack honey is made from the nectar of over a dozen different trees, flowers, bushes, and grass creating a robust and complex combination of flavors. The pollen variety is ideal for treating seasonal allergies and of course everyday use like adding to coffee, tea, and as a natural sweetener alternative.
Calef’s NH Honey, is a referred to by customers as a “great honey.” And, they are right! Clover honey, is the most common type of honey and can be heavily processed when commercially produced. We are proud to say we let the bees do the heavy lifting, our bottles are pure honey with no additives. Clover honey is different from wildflower honey in that it is made from the nectar of only clover flowers, not many different flowers. Calef’s NH Clover Honey is sweet and floral and is a great choice for a sweetener high in antioxidants and vitamins.
Bumbleberry Farms Honey and Spreads
Looking to get more adventurous with your honey flavors? Bumbleberry Farm is a great place to start. Explore each of the blossom honey flavors for unique ways to enjoy Bumbleberry Farm honey. All their products are bee and hand crafted in the USA with ingredients for some jars coming from as close as Maine, like the Blueberry Blossom Honey. This product is not only sourced with local ingredients, it is great in tea, glazes and marinades, even cocktails.
Honey Cream Spreads are another versatile kitchen product. The Sweet Maple Honey Cream is delicious on breakfast items like pancakes, yogurt, oatmeal and toast. And, it can also be used as a glaze on grilled fish or spread on ham sandwiches. It’s a versatile sweetener for any meal! The Cinnamon Stick Honey Cream Spread, will take you back to childhood cinnamon buns and can be used on breakfast buns, oatmeal and rice cakes. These spreads are perfect for simple, creative meals. Bumbleberry Farm products are available in-store only, but its worth the trip!
And while you are here, be sure to stock up on Honey Drops Hard Honey Candies. These candies have a real honey taste and a unique texture created by an old German “sanding” technique. These candies are great for a sore throat or to drop in a cup of tea. A must have for upcoming cooler months and the inevitable cold season.
Come shop honey at Calef’s and celebrate Honey Month. Honey is timeless and for ages, has made the world a little bit sweeter!
