Spruce honeydew honey

Spruce honeydew honey (Picea abies)

[caption id=“attachment_5767” align=“alignright” width=“300”][] Norway Spruce[/caption]

An excellent honey, mainly produced in Europe, Slovenia and Czech. In Italy this honeydew comes prevalently from the Alps area. The piercing and suction insects most involved in the production of this honeydew belong to Cinara coslala, C. piceae and Physokermes hemicryphus. Coincidentally, the world’s oldest tree is a Norway Spruce called ‘Old Tjikko’ in Sweden.

Characteristics:
Color: Amber color from light to dark, sometimes with reddish veins.
Aroma: Smoke, caramel, condensed milk, cooked, malted, panna cotta, resinous, a little balsamic
Taste: Medium intensity, slightly sweet and persistent. It remains liquid for a long time, it is very sticky and rarely fully crystallizes.

Translations: Germany: Fichtenhonig; Italy: Miele di abete rosso; France: épinette miel; Slovenian: smrekovega medu; Czech: smrkové medovice

Image credit: By Sanja565658 (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-3.0 / GFDL).