The Cold Extracted Honey Difference

At Wild Nectar, one of our key passions and differences is that all our honey is 100% raw. We call this ‘cold extracted’ because, a bit like a cold pressed olive oil or juice, our honey is extracted from the hives at room temperature and only gently warmed to make it a bit more malleable for bottling and straining to remove any hive debris. We never pasteurise, heat to high temperatures or filter our honey, we use the temperature of a hive on a hot summers day as a guide to maximum warmth of our honey when bottling.

Why do we do this? It’s a really important question for us, and one of the very reasons we started Wild Nectar in the first place.. We do it for quality. Raw honey with minimal processing retains the natural properties present in honey exactly as the bees created it, and all the natural flavour of the honey and the flora it was created from. Through heat treating honey, the delicate and complex sugars, pollens and enzymes are altered and diminished. Not only does this lessen the natural benefits of raw honey, it also reduces the quality of the honey and changes the flavour profile and shelf life before crystallising.

Like olive oil, honey is best consumed as fresh as possible, but crystallization isn’t a sign or old or poor quality honey. Honey actually never goes “off” and although some consumers think of it as an undesirable trait, honey crystallisation is actually one of the key signs of raw honey that is not highly processed. This is a natural change, particularly in colder temperatures, and can occur more readily in certain honey varietals due to the sugar structures from particular flora. It can also be reversed by gently warming the jar or bottle in a warm water.

It’s still perfect in your cuppa, or for cooking. So be proud of the cloud, and keep enjoying the benefits of cold extracted honey!