Founded 2026 · A collaborative reference project
The flavor of American honey, written down at last.
Help us build a sensory library of American honey.
Italy has catalogued its monofloral honeys for decades through trained sensory panels. Nothing comparable exists for American honey. We are building it sample by sample — sourwood, tupelo, mesquite, buckwheat, star thistle — and describing each one in plain language anyone can taste against.
The method we follow
Modeled on Italian sensory analysis
Italian honey has been described by trained panels for roughly forty years. Tasters work from a shared descriptive vocabulary, taste in controlled conditions, and record their findings on standardized sheets. Individual impressions become a profile only when the panel agrees.
We use the same structure: certified tasters, a fixed protocol, and a shared descriptive vocabulary — one we're actively building for American honey, not importing wholesale from Italy's.
A shared vocabulary
A starting set of descriptors for aroma, flavor, persistence, and texture — so “warm, vegetal, faintly saline” means the same thing to every panelist. The vocabulary grows as American honeys demand words Italy's list never needed.
Trained panels, not opinions
Every sample is assessed by several certified tasters. A profile is published only where the panel converges.
Repeatable conditions
Same sample size, same temperature, same order of tasting, same blind coding. Boring on purpose.
Who we are
A group of beekeepers and tasters, keeping notes
We met in a honey tasting class in May 2025 — brought together by a love of bees and honey. We trained in the Italian method of sensory analysis, learning Italy's own monofloral honeys by heart, and earned Level 1 certification. We stayed in touch, meeting monthly to talk honey. Several went on to earn Level 2 certification.
As our skills sharpened, an idea kept surfacing: what if we could learn to recognize American honeys the same way we'd learned Italian ones? The only thing missing was a shared reference tool.
We decided to take it on.
But we can't do it with our own jars alone. Building this out means tasting honey from hives all over the country — which is where you come in.
You know your honey. You sited the hives, timed the blooms, and you can tell your blackberry from your tulip poplar. That kind of knowledge shouldn't stay in one beekeeper's yard. With your jar, we can put your variety on the record for every beekeeper after you.
Two ways to help
For beekeepers
Donate a sample
Mail us eight ounces of a single-source honey. A trained panel documents its aroma, flavor, and texture, and sends you a written profile you can share with customers or keep for your own records.
See how it worksFor Level 2+ certified tasters
Join a tasting panel
Panels meet monthly over Zoom. A kit of coded samples arrives before the session; a small fee covers materials and shipping. Approved panelists receive the 2026 Panelist badge as a credential.
Check eligibility