by Susan Allen – Owner and herbalist at The Hawthorn Tree
If you’ve ever wondered why our drinks taste so good, it’s probably the honey; 32,000 ounces to be exact. But before you go for your calorie counter, that is the total amount of honey we go through in a year, not in a single drink. It takes approximately 72 bees to make an ounce of honey or 2.3 million bees to make our annual honey usage at The Hawthorn Tree. That’s a lot of bees!
Sugar tastes sweet, but honey has a unique complex flavor seldom found in any other sweetener on the market. This is due to differing nectar sources that bees find along their journey back to the hive. As such, honey can take on subtleties like warm floral notes combined with caramel or toasted marshmallow or even grassy, vegetal flavors. The majority of honey in this area and throughout Wyoming and Colorado is either clover or wildflower, which varies depending the exact geographic location, time of year and even the time of day. Clover honey is a little bit milder, sweeter and lighter in color than wildflower honey which is darker and tends to have a more complex flavor. Again, the spectrum of colors and flavors can vary greatly depending on the current environment. Honey is a precious commodity and can be evaluated much like fine wine.
The cost of honey is 8 times as expensive as refined sugar and even higher for local, unfiltered raw honey. Honey is high in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and contains antimicrobial properties. Honey has been known to help reduce inflammation, is good for suppressing coughs and speeding up wound healing. One study found that honey is just as effective as some over-the-counter cough medications. Nothing soothes the throat like honey during cold and flu season. One note of caution is that honey is not recommended for children under the age of 18 months due to a bacteria found in honey that can lead to botulism. This bacteria is typically kept under control in the digestive system of older children and adults.
So what about allergies? Unfortunately, there isn’t a whole lot of scientific data to support honey as a remedy for seasonal allergies. However, the anti-inflammatory properties found in honey are sure to help with those inflamed tissues common during allergy season. And due to its antimicrobial properties, honey can help regulate the gut biome which can ultimately boost the immune response. This can’t hurt when allergy season comes calling. Processed honey that has been heated and filtered has less benefit than raw, unfiltered honey.
So now for the bad news. Sugar is sugar. While refined sugar doesn’t have any real nutritional value, honey on the other hand has lots of antioxidants, vitamins B6, C, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, and pantothenic acid, as well as minerals like calcium, iron, zinc, potassium, magnesium, selenium, chromium, and manganese. But if you’re looking to cut out sugar as a whole, honey can be just as bad for you as table sugar. Honey has a lower glycemic index than refined sugar so it won’t raise blood sugar levels as fast as refined sugar. But ultimately the effects on the body are the same.
One teaspoon of refined sugar has 4.2 grams of sugar while honey has 6 grams of sugar. The good news is that because honey is 25% sweeter than sugar, it takes less of it to achieve the same sweetness. Most of our drinks at the Hawthorn Tree contain far less total sugar from using honey than most coffee shops which are using commercial syrups with “natural” flavoring.
Our Chai, for instance, contains around 1 tablespoon of honey or 17g of sugar versus a typical chai from a commercial coffee shop chain which can contain as much as 42g of sugar. Not that we are biased, but our Chai is also made from scratch using organic teas and spices.
Ninety percent of our drinks at The Hawthorn Tree contain local, raw, unfiltered honey. As a business model, using just plain sugar in our drinks would be easier and cheaper, but the trade off in flavor and nutrient value is worth it. We know there are a lot of choices out there when it comes to choosing a quick, on-the-go beverage, but we think it’s worth giving our customers the best flavor and the best value when it comes to serving drinks.
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2023, August 10). Honey. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-honey/art-20363819#:~:text=Studies%20suggest%20that%20honey%20might,wound%20healing%2C%20particularly%20in%20burns.
In vitro anti-inflammatory properties of honey flavonoids: A review Abdallah, H. M., Afrin, S., Alvarez-Suarez, J. M., Aryaeian, N., Attanzio, A., Babiaka, S. B., Bagher, Z., Bai, M., Benzie, I. F. F., Bhattacharya, S., Biluca, F. C., … Lee, K. M. (2020, December 29). In vitro anti-inflammatory properties of honey flavonoids: A Review. Food Research International. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S096399692031111X#:~:text=Highlights&text=Honey%20is%20a%20flavonoid%2Drich,and%20arachidonic%20acid%20pathway%20enzymes.
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2020, August 6). Honey: An effective cough remedy?. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/cough/expert-answers/honey/faq-20058031#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20in%20the%20study,might%20be%20worth%20a%20try.
Arrington, D. (2014, August 27). A taste of honey – and the words to describe it. The Seattle Times. https://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/a-taste-of-honey-mdash-and-the-words-to-describe-it/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CMost%20people%20just%20say%20’sweet,%2C%20spicy%2C%20nutty%20or%20earthy.
Is honey the same as Sugar? (n.d.). https://cales.arizona.edu/backyards/sites/cals.arizona.edu.backyards/files/b13fall_pp11-13.pdf
No, eating honey won’t help your seasonal allergies. Office for Science and Society. (2023, April 21). https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/medical/no-eating-honey-wont-help-your-seasonal-allergies#:~:text=One%20problem%20with%20the%20theory,pollen%20you’re%20allergic%20to.
