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Cattledog

(6,338 posts)
Tue May 28, 2019, 03:47 PM May 2019

On the Trail of Tupelo Honey, Liquid Gold From the Swamps.

By Kim Severson
May 28, 2019

ODUM, Ga. — The most expensive honey in America starts in these mucky Southern swamps, where white Ogeechee tupelo trees twist up out of water so dark you can’t tell if that was an alligator or a snake that just broke the surface.

For two precious weeks each spring in this slice of southeastern Georgia and in the Florida Panhandle, tupelo trees bloom with pale, fragile flowers that look like pompoms for tiny cheerleaders. Beekeepers tuck their hives along the banks, or occasionally float them out into the water on rafts. Then the bees get to work, making honey that looks and tastes like no other.

Good tupelo will glow with a light green tint, especially when it’s fresh from the comb and bathed in sunlight. The first taste is of cinnamon with a tingle of anise. That gives way to a whisper of jasmine and something citrusy — tangerine rind, maybe? The honey is so soft, light and buttery that the only logical move is to chase it with another spoonful.

“I love it, but it’s not something I can afford to use regularly,” said Kelly Fields, whom the James Beard Foundation recently named the year’s Outstanding Pastry Chef for work at her New Orleans restaurant, Willa Jean. “The real stuff is so sacred down here that if I ever got my hands on some, I’d probably keep it at home.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/28/dining/tupelo-honey.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

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On the Trail of Tupelo Honey, Liquid Gold From the Swamps. (Original Post) Cattledog May 2019 OP
Floating bee hives. Chin music May 2019 #1
This post screams for Van Morrison JDC May 2019 #2
Couldn't agree with you more, comrade. WheelWalker May 2019 #3
You beat me to it. n/t customerserviceguy May 2019 #7
I order my honey from Savannah Bee in Savannah, GA. KatyaR May 2019 #4
I used to work in a kayak shack at Tybee with the guy who started Sav Bee Co. (almost 20 yrs ago) NightWatcher May 2019 #6
Ulee's Gold arthurgoodwin May 2019 #5
It is the only honey that never crystallizes. Haggis for Breakfast May 2019 #8

JDC

(10,486 posts)
2. This post screams for Van Morrison
Tue May 28, 2019, 04:41 PM
May 2019



In actuality, I find this story to be my favorite of the day. TY

KatyaR

(3,527 posts)
4. I order my honey from Savannah Bee in Savannah, GA.
Tue May 28, 2019, 05:45 PM
May 2019

My favorite is the Orange Blossom Honey, but they carry Tupelo Honey. A 20-oz bottle of their Gold Reserve Tupelo Honey is $99!

NightWatcher

(39,358 posts)
6. I used to work in a kayak shack at Tybee with the guy who started Sav Bee Co. (almost 20 yrs ago)
Tue May 28, 2019, 06:39 PM
May 2019

It's the best I've ever had, even if I'm a little biased.

arthurgoodwin

(38 posts)
5. Ulee's Gold
Tue May 28, 2019, 06:11 PM
May 2019

One of my favorite movies, Ulee's Gold (1997), revolves around a family of beekeepers (headed by Peter Fonda, in what I think of as his best film role) in Wewahitchka, Florida and their tupelo honey. It has some very realistic scenes of beekeeping (supposedly a family of real beekeepers were consultants to the film and many of the scenes were filmed around their hives).

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