Honey. What Is The Truth?

At the beginning of this year, I had the pleasure of meeting Deukes’ Sanda. I am already a honey lover. My step-dad kept bees when I was growing up and so we would always have the freshest  honey. I knew a few super fascinating bee facts, but sitting down with Sanda I learnt things that I cannot wait to share with you.

Deukes honey sampled in JOMO Club’s June Box was something pretty special. You can use it in cocktails, pair it with your  favourite cheeses, drizzle it on your greek yogurt or even eat it on its own. Not all honey is made equal, something Sanda will tell you all about.  

Without further ado… 

Q: We are so excited to have DEUKES in this months’ JOMO Box. Can we start by talking through  what is in front of us today? When Gemma and I first met I bought for her the entire DEUKES honey range to try as I wanted to know what her thoughts will be on each variety. A few months down the line, for the first JOMO box we decided we will pair the selection with the beautiful Acacia honey. With its silky texture, clear, straw-coloured hue and mild floral taste, Acacia honey is one of the world’s finest varieties, and low GI index.

Q: Before I met you, I knew you could get local honey, artisan honey and large company honey.  Other than of course the beautiful branding, supporting small businesses and the difference in  flavour, I didn’t know what the difference was…until I met you. Can you tell us about the practices  in honey and why DEUKES is different to those bigger brands? With a long history of beekeeping in our family, we know how incredible different varieties of honey can taste. And yet, all too often, the factory process of mixing varieties and adding sweeteners, makes every jar on the shelves taste the same. 

Made from the pollen of a single plant species, our award-winning varieties each have a distinctive taste and texture. From the rich to the woody, the creamy to the clear, every jar is unique – not only in its uses and pairings, but in its health benefits too. 

We produce and source only the very purest, finest monofloral varieties from across Europe’s fields, forests and meadows, celebrating nature’s rich diversity by leaving each jar as raw as the hive intended, with the taste of every flower and landscape deep within. Every single drop is traced back to the hive and the individual beekeeper using our proprietary technology and reassuring the product's authenticity.

This is honey like nothing you’ve dipped, drizzled or spread before. It is a journey in every jar, made by nature for pairing with cheese, wine and recipes. It is for every occasion and every palate, and it is for everyone looking for pure, monofloral magic.

Q: What is your favourite way to enjoy today's honey? I love pairing Acacia with matured goat’s cheese and a light drink to go with it.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about the other honeys in your range and is there such a way ‘taste’ a  honey? What should we be looking our for?  Our collection of six raw mono!oral varieties, each with a distinct taste and harvested using sustainable practices, is here to make honey special again. 

Raw Monofloral Acacia Honey

Like your honey light? With its silky texture, clear, straw-coloured hue and mild floral taste, Acacia is one of the world’s finest varieties.

Pairing

Acacia’s delicate taste means it doesn’t overpower other flavours, so it’s perfect drizzled over yoghurt, cereal or ice cream. It goes well with firm, salty cheeses like pecorino, or over a thick layer of butter on crusty bread. And it’s a good natural sweetener in tea and coffee.

Raw Monofloral Rapeseed Honey

Rapeseed is the first honey to be harvested in the year. Buttery-smooth, with a delicate aroma and mildly sweet taste, the honey crystallises almost as soon as the beekeepers collect it, making it a rare and much-renowned variety.

Pairing

Rapeseed honey spreads easily, so is perfect on hot crumpets or toast. Scoop it up with soft cheeses, and pair with a crisp Pinot Grigio.

Raw Monofloral Linden Honey

Delicate, fruity and sophisticated, we like to think of Linden as the Chardonnay of the honey world. It has a butter-yellow colour, a distinctive, mildly spicy flavour and a fresh, woody scent. Ours comes from the Codri forest region of Moldova, where Linden trees have been grown for honey since Medieval times.

Pairing

Linden’s tangy taste makes it the perfect match for creamy cheeses, green melon and crusty baguettes. It also goes nicely with a rich Malbec wine.

Raw Monofloral Sunflower Honey

Bright and sweet, with a soft fondant-like texture, a scoop of Sunflower honey is a scoop of sunshine. Because of its many health benefits, it’s also considered to be one of nature’s superfoods. Our Sunflower honey comes from the glorious golden fields of Eastern Europe.

Pairing

With its fresh, sweet taste, Sunflower honey is the perfect match for blue cheeses, rye bread and seeds or nuts. It also goes nicely with peachy Orange wine.

Raw Monofloral Sage Honey

Full-bodied. Velvety-smooth. And glowing with the deep-red colour, sage honey is a rare delicacy, packed with aromatic and herby flavours that make it perfect for pairing and cooking.

Pairing

The delicate aroma and creamy texture pairs well with soft cheese, papaya and figs. Or a glass of Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay wine.

Raw Monofloral Buckwheat Honey

Like a brooding summer storm, Buckwheat Honey is the darkest and most dramatic of the DEUKES collection. It has a strong cinnamon-like, earthy taste, with a thick but runny texture and a full-bodied aroma. And yet, the plant it originates from tells a different story. Startlingly beautiful, the dainty white and pink flowers of the Buckwheat plant carpet fields and meadows with summer snow. Ours is from Transnistria (Moldova), where it has been harvested for thousands of years.

Pairing

Drizzle over pancakes, waffles and ice cream as an alternative to maple syrup. Or layer with tangy cheddar, stilton or smoked cheese on crackers with nuts and seeds. Syrah and Red Douro are perfect matches.

Q: Transparency is extremely important at DEUKES. What does this mean exactly and why was  this so important to you? For the past 8 years we have been focusing on tackling the issue of fake honey, or “honey laundering” as some would say. We developed a proprietary technology to trace every single jar back to the beekeepers and fields where it was harvested. Each Deukes jar has a QR code, revealing the story of its origin – including the quality test results we run on every batch, location of the apiary, the beekeeper and when the honey was harvested.

Q: You say, nothing added, nothing taken away, nothing lost. Are things added and taken away in  other honeys? Unfortunately honey is the 3rd most faked product in the food world. Many large processors would buy high quality honey and mix with various syrups or other types of sugars to make larger quantities to sell, or even hide the origin so that they can gain more from their investment. This being one of the reasons why we decided to launch DEUKES.

Q: What was the inspiration behind DEUKES? Where did it all begin?  DEUKES is a very personal story, it began in 2018 when I understood that the corporate/start-up career I had was not what I would want to pursue. I embarked on a journey to find my next move and realised beekeeping was something I grew up with, and knew a lot about. Besides enjoying doing it as a child, I always loved having single flower honey as it tasted so different and you would find your favourite type that you can eat forever. At the time. I never thought it could be a vocation for me, but it did. 

With the lack of monofloral options on the market, one day, I came to my father and pitched the idea to stop supplying large processors and launch a brand of monofloral honey. Beekeeping in our family has been a long time practice, starting from a few generations ago as a farming activity. My father brought beekeeping to a new level when he left his finance career 20 years ago and started to produce and develop the beekeeping sector in the Eastern European region. 

As honey runs in our blood, we had to address the current industry issues of fake and bland tasting honey, so DEUKES (deukēs) - meaning sweet in Ancient Greek, was born with the idea that everyone should enjoy the beauty of the monofloral honeys, just like beekeepers do.

Q: Are there benefits to us eating/drinking honey? What are the main ones we should be aware of? 

1.Rich in nutrients and antioxidants

Apart from being sweet, honey contains vitamins, polyphenols and antioxidants, such as flavonoids and phenolic acids which are absorbed by our body and contribute to a healthy immune system. Different varieties of monofloral honey will have different levels of vitamins and antioxidants however, darker varieties tend to offer more antioxidants than lighter ones, buckwheat for example.

2. Better for blood sugar levels than regular sugar

Although honey contains fructose, glucose, sucrose and other sugars, the antioxidants it contains may help protect against metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Today we see a lot of research into this to say that honey can be used as a regulator of sugar spikes. Acacia honey is known to have low GI index due to high fructose and low glucose levels. 

3. Has a positive effect on heart health

In recent studies, honey has been linked to beneficial effects on heart health, including reduced blood pressure, blood fat levels and regulating your heartbeat. More research is required into this, however we are looking forward to seeing more studies into natural ingredients like honey.

4. Known to heal light burns and wounds

For many years honey has been used as wound healing ingredient and to this day the practice is still common. Research has shown the benefits of honey, especially because of the antioxidant properties. For severe burns please seek urgent medical attention as home ingredients are not suitable for severe cases.

5. May help suppress coughing

Coughing is a common problem for upper respiratory infections. These infections can affect sleep and quality of life for children and parents. There are a few studies to show that honey can be more effective than the drugs such as diphenhydramine to reduce cough symptoms and duration. 

It is important not to give honey to children under 12 months. 

Discount code to use off your site/where to buy again: Use the code JOMO15 for an exclusive JOMO community discount (15%)