Portuguese Black Forest Honey

Tasting Notes

Warm dark amber color with nutty notes of caramel and molasses.

Ingredients & Origin

Extremadura and Portugal

100% Raw Honeydew (Black Forest) Honey

About the Pollen

Coming to us from Portugal and the autonomous Extremadura community of Spain, this gorgeous Forest Honey reminds us of why this area of Europe is famous for its deeply flavored wines and cured ham.

Forest Honey, also known as honeydew honey, is unique among honeys in that it is made when bees collect honeydew (a sticky clear fluid left by aphids feeding on trees and plants) rather than or in addition to nectar.

Our Portuguese Forest Honey is largely made with honeydew and nectar from the Holm Oak, the tree whose acorns famously feed the hogs for Pata Negra Jamón Iberico. Forest Honey made from this nectar has its own unique character and is replete with notes of caramel and molasses.

We love to use our Portuguese Forest Honey on charcuterie boards, especially with soft cheese like Brie or Camembert.

Honey Facts

Our passion for teas...

We are delighted to be able to share one of the largest and most varied collections of single origin traditional teas on the East Coast with our communi·tea. Personally curated by owner Hayley, these teas come to us from small farms and collectives and represent the best of their terroirs and production styles. While wondering our shelves in-person or online, you will discover familiar favorites like English Breakfast and Long Jing (Dragonwell) alongside rare teas like Shan Lin Xi and herbal tisanes blended for mindfulnessinflammation, and much more.

& bees...

Raw honey is one of nature's most marvelous gifts. Not only is honey a marvel of energy-giving carbohydrates fortified with antioxidants, minerals and beneficial enzymes - making it the healthiest natural sugar - honey comes in a rainbow of flavors and varieties with something for everyone to appreciate and enjoy. From dark, robust honeys like Buckwheat and Chestnut to light or amber honeys like Tupelo or Orange Blossom, the subtle and sometimes not so subtle flavor differences between varietal honeys lend themselves to extraordinary flavor combinations and experimentation in the kitchen, on the charcuterie board, or in your favorite cup of tea.

all started with our Queen Bee

A trained chef, Hayley's vision for Saratoga Tea & Honey Co. has been her entire lifetime in the making. Though she was still drinking espresso at the time, the Tea & Honey seeds were planted in the kitchens of Michelin-starred restaurants with training and appreciation for food and beverage as not just sustenance, but experience and hospitality. Her time spent as a chef-instructor at Jacques Pépin's French Culinary Institute introduced her first to matcha (and its ability to enhance sustained and steady focus), then to the subtleties of single-origin traditional teas like high mountain Taiwanese oolong. As a celebrated and awarded taster and master of culinary arts, in 2015 Hayley opened the doors to Saratoga Tea & Honey Co. Since then, she has cultivated a communi·tea for discovering rare and exciting teas, extraordinary raw honeys & unique gifts produced by small farmers and artisans from around the world.