Odd Flavor

[fcderosa]

I just finnished extracting some supers and I thought I was going crazy but kept silent.  My wife then tasted some out of the buicket and commented " tastes a bit like molasses.  Hmmmmph, I'm not going crazy.  There is a distinct off flavor of dark molassis in the honey.  She likes it so I'll save some bottles for her, the rest I'll mix with black currant to make some Black Mead.  Any idea what bloom it could have come from?  Anyone else get any? :?

[Nelly]

I believe Goldenrod honey can be somewhat funky.  It's blooming now here in NC.  I think many beekeepers let the bees have it because of it's unpleasant taste.

Nelly

[fcderosa]

No , our goldenrod is just coming in, besides goldenrod does have a distinct aroma which can't be confused.  I let the girls overwinter with that stuff.   

[Nelly]

I know that just before the goldenrod, the wild asters were blooming, but I don't know how their honey tastes.  Maybe you could call your local Extension Office to get a list of what's recently bloomed in your area.  They always know that kind of info. 

Nelly

[greg spike]

Buckwheat has a dark color, and the stuff I tried had a malt extract/molasses taste. It's a mid/late summer crop too.

Wish my bees had some to graze on...

[WhipCityBeeMan]

It does sound like buckwheat to me too. There must be tobacco farms near you. Tobacco growers will often use buckwheat as a cover crop after they harvest the tobacco. 

[fcderosa]

Hmmmmm, buckwheat,,,,,,,,,,could bee.   We have lots of tobacco around us.  Sounds like a good candidate for the black mead; though I should actually use thistle honey.  This honey is rather dark; should work.  I'm bottling the pymeat from 2007 today,  it tastes so good and cleared really nice.  :-D

[Brian D. Bray]

I agree with the buckwheat.

[reinbeau]

Japanese Bamboo is a form of buckwheat, I don't much care for the dark, molasses taste from it.

[KONASDAD]

Both buckwheat and japanese knotwood bamboo make very dark honey. I just did a removal and extracted 3 lbs of totally black honey. tastes like rootbeer. And I mean black, totally.