On a chilly February morning, Christina Neumann welcomed fellow honey tasters Nancy Simpson and James Roccasecca and researcher Robyn Underwood to CoNectar. This charming, cozy space in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a gathering place for multi-sensory education. The mission of CoNectar, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is to connect communities to multi-sensory “flora to table” education by providing programs that demonstrate the key role pollinators play in food systems and our broader ecology. Understanding the connection between the unique flavors of honey, its botanical/biological source, and the location of honey harvest is fundamental to the mission.
The purpose of the gathering was to taste and describe the olfactory and gustatory properties of a unique new honey made from spotted lanternfly honeydew. Introduced into Berks County, PA in 2014, spotted lanternflies are invasive insects that feed on plant phloem. These planthoppers have a specialized digestive system that allows excess water and sugars from their plant sap diet to bypass the midgut and get excreted. This byproduct, known as honeydew, is subsequently gathered by sugar-loving honey bees. They take it back to their hives, concentrate the sugars, and produce honeydew honey.
Starting in 2019, beekeepers have reported a unique, dark honey filling their honey supers in August and September in regions where spotted lanternflies have become established. As lanternflies spread to new regions, beekeepers discover this unique honey in their hives. Robyn Underwood, a Penn State researcher, has been working to describe this new honey in various ways. On this occasion, Robyn gathered trained honey sensory analysts to begin to create a unified description of the honeydew honey.
Christina Neumann, who leads the effort, is a member of the Italian National Register of Experts in the Sensory Analysis of Honey. Members are highly trained and undergo rigorous testing. Nancy and James were trained by the American Honey Tasting Society. To build the spotted lanternfly honeydew honey profile, the analysts are following the methods established by the Italian Register and followed by the American Society.
To start the process of describing a honey sample, about a teaspoon of honey was placed in a wine glass. The tasters spread the honey around using a ceramic spoon and then held the glass to warm the honey to release its aroma. With noses stuck into the mouths of the glasses, they breathed deeply to take in the full effect of the honey. In the quiet, calm space, they focused on taking in the properties of the honey. They then took a spoonful of the honey and spread it around in their mouths. They slowly and purposely held the honey there to allow the flavors to permeate. They then took to the datasheets to create a profile of the honey.
The olfactory properties of the honey include the intensity of the smell and basic descriptors such as floral, fruity, warm, chemical, vegetal and animal. The gustatory properties of the honey include intensity of the flavors and descriptors including salty, bitter, sour, sweet, and umami. Persistence of the flavors is noted as well as any defects, such as the honey being metallic, fermented, or tasting like plastic. The tasters worked independently for a time, then they came together to build a consensus.
The resulting sensory data for each sample will be used by Robyn to summarize the properties of spotted lanternfly honeydew honey. It is important for beekeepers to be able to recognize with certainty that they have collected this particular unique honey by its unique sensory characteristics. It is important for consumers, as well, to understand what they are buying and eating. Thus, a unified description of this honey type will be provided by summarizing the description of 20 individual samples.
More about CoNectar:
CoNectar Flora to Table Education has a teaching space, cafe, and gallery located in a newly renovated 1880s general store building in Millvale, PA, a riverfront town in the Greater Pittsburgh area. The space was architecturally designed with lighting, thermal and acoustical control to create an ideal environment for sensory analysis of honey and other crafted foods. A quiet calm space is necessary to minimize distractions so the focus can be dedicated to the food experience.
CoNectar manages an urban apiary of 70-90 artisan honey-producing colonies in the greater Pittsburgh area. One of the major initiatives is to help create a deeper understanding of all the hard work and synergism that goes into honey production, from nectar source, to honey bee to beekeeper. Honey production is an art form, and the intention is to elevate honey to the status of a crafted food product that is appreciated as a miracle of nature and something much more profound than just a sweetener for tea.
Contributed post by
Robyn Underwood