Product Review: Steens Manuka Honey

EARWORM ALERT! The Archies – Sugar, Sugar:

 ‘Sugar,
Oh, Honey Honey.
You are my candy girl…’

So what’s inspired this gem of a tune to enter my head? Why, thinking about honey, Steens Manuka Honey no less.

Manuka honey is produced in New Zealand and is the ‘Queen Bee’ of the honey world, famed for its anti-bacterial properties. The owners of Steens, Paul and Sheryl Steens, have been working in the Beekeeping Industry for over 30 years and own about 10,000 beehives across New Zealand’s North Island.

The honey is rated according to its bio active properties; the more anti-bacterial the higher the rating for e.g. Raw 15+ has more anti-bacterial properties than a Raw 5+. Steens Manuka Honey is raw, cold processed and 100% pure. They use minimal processes meaning the enhancement of health benefits such as being excellent for; the immune system, digestive health, skin ailments, energy boosting and more. I’m given Steens’ Raw 10+ to try.

It has a rich golden colour and is like normal honey, but stronger tasting, aromatic and earthy. It has a bitter edge, which I’m not keen on when eaten by itself, but when used in cooking that edge mellows out. Though I think cooking with it lessens it properties value, so I’m happy to wince once in a while to get all its benefits. They recommend taking 1-2 teaspoons daily to ‘promote inner well being’.

Steens have developed an interesting piece of software for the honey, a ‘Hive Tracker’. This enables you to ‘Track and Trace’ the origin of your specific honey. You just enter your batch code into their site and up it pops. I track mine back to Dannevirke, which is a rural service town in the Manawatu-Wanganui area of New Zealand located on terraces in the upper valley of the Manawatu River. How cool is that?

Steens Manuka Honey is available in Waitrose, Tesco, Planet Organic, Whole Foods, Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Fortnum & Mason, La Grande Epicerie Paris, and other regional outlets. It ain’t cheap, but then you get what you pay for. Prices vary depending on jar size and anti-bacterial properties. In Waitrose, a 340g Raw 10+ jar is currently retailing at £13.80.

Now back to my earworm…

‘Sugar,
Oh, Honey Honey.
You are my candy girl…’

Thanks to Steens for the samples.