In the Bible, the promised land that was entrusted to the Israelites was said to be “flowing with milk and honey”:
“They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.” -Numbers 13:27
The phrase is used over and over as a description of the bounty of the land. Even today, thousands of years later, Jill and I still call each other “honey”.
In Proverbs we have this saying:
“Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste.” -Proverbs 24:13
Yes, that’s correct. The Bible tells me to eat honey. Best command ever! Why? Because it’s sweet, of course! What an awesome verse. While this seems like somewhat of a silly thing for the Bible to say, honey is incredibly beneficial to the human body. Honey is a natural energy source, lowers your risk of cancer, helps your immune system, is used to treat many kinds of ailments such as sore throats, and is used in beauty treatments (source).
Besides being sweet, honey is an amazing substance. It’s made from bee saliva, pollen (which contains plant sperm cells) and nectar (the source of the sugars). What an amazing natural thing! If I told you I was going to make a delicious food item out of insect spit and juice from plants, you might think I was crazy.
Honey has been around for thousands of years. It’s a natural preservative and was used to preserve the bodies of ancient Egyptians three eons ago. It’s been found still edible in tombs. Honey can last for centuries without going bad!
One reason I’m so excited about honey lately is because it’s the primary ingredient in mead. You can use anywhere from one to four pounds of honey per gallon of mead. I use two pounds for fermenting and four ounces for backsweetening. What’s even more fun than eating honey? Turning it into homemade booze, of course.
There are also different types of honey depending on what flowers they visited to make their honey. Since I’ve been collecting different kinds, I did a brief taste test of four different kinds:
Clover: Basic honey I grew up eating
Wildflower: Dark, licorice or molasses flavor, like thick brown sugar.
Blueberry: Similar to clover, but more spicy, maybe more acidic?
Raspberry: Sweeter, very sugary, but a nice flavor, not very biting. Sort of like candy. Also the most watery.
Orange: Remember PEZ candies? Or Smarties? Tastes just like those. I can’t explain why, it just does. Almost sort of cherry flavored. Very sweet but different flavor than the others.
I have been making meads and eating honey for a while now, but I have never tried all the different kinds at the same time. They’re all so different! All so yummy.
I’ll leave you with one more Bible reference, since I’ve now been following the first honey command so dilligently:
“If you find honey, eat just enough – too much of it, and you will vomit.” -Proverbs 25:16
Haha! My new goal is to eat “just enough” honey every day 😀
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