So yesterday my daughter and I were at the Modesto (CA) Scottish Games and there were a couple of guys selling "local" honey there. Naturally we had to stop by and taste what they had (valley wildflower, mountain wildflower, clover, sage, cotton, orange blossom...mebbe one more), I mean, I make mead. I can't pass by honey without tasting it. Duh.
Anyway, we asked these guys a few questions about their honey, did they gather it themselves, what did they mean by "local," etc. We didn't buy any, for two reasons: one they were talking about cold filtering once then bottling like it was a bad thing, and two, when we asked about amounts larger than the two pound glass jars they were offering for sale they said they didn't generally do that because shipping the glass jars was problematic (I can think of any number of ways to solve that problem, but oh, well).
When I said that I was thinking more along the lines of a five gallon bucket they balked. That would be very expensive, they said. I know, I said, one of my last honey purchases was over a hundred dollars for a GALLON, and buying five gallons of great honey would definitely be more than possible for me. Not only did they not seem to be interested in selling me vast amounts of honey, they treated us like morons even though we'd told them that we made mead and actually knew a fairish bit about honey in general--we were evidently supposed to be surprised that cotton or sage tasted different from OB.
Oh, well, their loss. I'd tell you the name of the company, but although the jars had labels that said "Celtic Gold," they had other jars with other, different but similar, names on them. I think the "Celtic Gold" was a nod to the Celtic nature of the Faire.
The OB was good, very light, it would have made an almost clear trad. Someday I'll find someone semi-local who not only has fantastic minimally-processed honey, but they'll want to sell it to me in bulk.
Anyway, we asked these guys a few questions about their honey, did they gather it themselves, what did they mean by "local," etc. We didn't buy any, for two reasons: one they were talking about cold filtering once then bottling like it was a bad thing, and two, when we asked about amounts larger than the two pound glass jars they were offering for sale they said they didn't generally do that because shipping the glass jars was problematic (I can think of any number of ways to solve that problem, but oh, well).
When I said that I was thinking more along the lines of a five gallon bucket they balked. That would be very expensive, they said. I know, I said, one of my last honey purchases was over a hundred dollars for a GALLON, and buying five gallons of great honey would definitely be more than possible for me. Not only did they not seem to be interested in selling me vast amounts of honey, they treated us like morons even though we'd told them that we made mead and actually knew a fairish bit about honey in general--we were evidently supposed to be surprised that cotton or sage tasted different from OB.
Oh, well, their loss. I'd tell you the name of the company, but although the jars had labels that said "Celtic Gold," they had other jars with other, different but similar, names on them. I think the "Celtic Gold" was a nod to the Celtic nature of the Faire.
The OB was good, very light, it would have made an almost clear trad. Someday I'll find someone semi-local who not only has fantastic minimally-processed honey, but they'll want to sell it to me in bulk.
