Chemical taste to honey

[Tabby15]

A friend brought me back a pot of mountain honey from Italy (she knew I was worried whether I would get any honey in this my first year and it was a nice thought). It was sealed in a plastic pot.

I tried it today and it is foul. Has a horrid chemical almost petrol aftertaste. Decided to try it in a cake but threw the whole thing out halfway through cooking as you could smell the chemicals

Am chucking the rest but anyone any ideas what it might be? Could it be because of the plastic pot? The only thing that got rid of the taste was a spoonful of my own honey (very grateful that I have some)

 

[VEG]

I find manuka honey tastes the same like medicine yuk

 

[Luminos]

Mine is mostly bottled in plastic pots - it tastes lovely

 

[Swarm]

Mine is mostly bottled in plastic pots - it tastes lovely

What? The plastic?

 

[drstitson]

what did it actually say on the pot?
what colour and consistency was the honey?
where in italy was it from?

chestnut (castagne) is quite an acquired taste.

 

[Luminos]

What? The plastic?

 

[Tabby15]

Just retrieved the packaging and it is not Italian at all. Clearly either I misunderstood her or she was done!
It is French...from the Jura mountains. Small print says harvested in France at a place called saffloz.

Further investigation (www.) gets me to the thought that it may be pine honey.

 

[masterBK]

Pine honey in the pure form is really honeydew and is derived from aphids and scale insects exuding surplus digested sap sucked up from the trees ie not from flowers. It is worth having a look at it under the microscope to see the algae, fungal hyphae and spores (particularly from sooty moulds), oxalate crystals, dust and pollen from wind pollinated plants (that gets stuck in it). The sugar content is also interesting as it contains less fructose than floral honies and more melezitose, fructomalose and various other oligosaccharides. It will have a greater nitrogen content as it contains enzymes and proteins from the scale insects. It will also have a greater electrical conductivity than floral honey ( see Honey regs 2003). Some people like it and it commands a price premium in some eurpean countries.

 

[REDWOOD]

Pine honey in the pure form is really honeydew and is derived from aphids and scale insects exuding surplus digested sap sucked up from the trees ie not from flowers. It is worth having a look at it under the microscope to see the algae, fungal hyphae and spores (particularly from sooty moulds), oxalate crystals, dust and pollen from wind pollinated plants (that gets stuck in it). The sugar content is also interesting as it contains less fructose than floral honies and more melezitose, fructomalose and various other oligosaccharides. It will have a greater nitrogen content as it contains enzymes and proteins from the scale insects. It will also have a greater electrical conductivity than floral honey ( see Honey regs 2003). Some people like it and it commands a price premium in some eurpean countries.

insects poo is not my cup of tea

 

[richardbees]

The colour is key here, if it's honeydew it will be almost black....and imo have a 'figgy' aroma.

Also I am highly suspicious of all overseas honey....one hears tales of bulk shipments from China trucked Westward overland in tankers, maybe this ones' hadn't been rinsed out properly?

 

[MuswellMetro]

insects poo is not my cup of tea

agree , honeydew is not as good as Bee Sick

 

[Erichalfbee]

Judging from the loud buzz from beech trees in a lot of places I should imagine that there must be honeydew in a lot of our honey (us as in the forum, not the royal we )

Pine honey Some people like it and it commands a price premium in some eurpean countries.

An acquired taste, then; a bit like Retsina

 

[richardbees]

An acquired taste, then; a bit like Retsina

Erica - spot on! retsina does have a chemical taste.....my honeydew honey probably comes from broad-leafed trees, mainly Oak, on the surrounding Commons

 

[Tabby15]

More research and found a french shop selling it

Cette appellation indique que le miel est récolté en moyenne altitude. Il est élaboré à partir de fleurs sauvages et de résineux des forêts. C'est un goût un peu plus prononcé que le miel de fleurs.

So it is wild flowers and pine (conifer) resin. To say the taste is a little stronger than flower honey is an understatement. It is not dark but lighter than the honey I took from a brood frame. (no I don't sell that I just eat it)
Whatever it is it won't have a place in my kitchen. The oven still smells faintly chemically from the cake.

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions.