The reason I got turned on to Tasmania food and ingredients in the first instance was because of a tin of Leatherwood honey from the Tasmanian Honey Company www.tasmanianhoney.com that I purchased in a deli in Perth back in 2018. The shop assistant told me that ‘basically anything that comes from Tassie is the best!’ and after trying the honey I had to agree with her, it was amazing! Second only to some wild mangrove honey that I once had in Bangladesh.
You’ll find all three of the businesses mentioned on my Google map of Tasmania.
Melita Honey Farm www.melitahoneyfarm.com.au, 39 Sorell St, Chudleigh
Melita is the bee all and end all of honey shops (sorry). As well as being a shop it doubles as a museum with a display of traditional hives and explanations of the honey-making process.
There’s even a glass hive in the shop where you can see the bees at work. Click on the video.
And best of all, you can try many of their honeys before you buy (they have about sixty products in all).
I got some Leatherwood just because it’s my favourite, but I also liked their Stringy Bark variety which has notes of caramel and coffee. Stringybark is a kind of eucalyptus that koalas enjoy eating and they surely must know what the good stuff is.
Melita also have several varieties of Mānuka honey (aka Teatree) which has a complex earthy flavour. It also contains pre-biotics and has antimicrobial properties, so it’s great in a toddy when you’re ill (with lemon and warm, not hot, water).
The active ingredient thought to be responsible for these antibacterial effects is methylglyoxal (MGO) for which Melita has three ratings: 100+ MGO, 250+ MGO and 400+ MGO. I got a big 500g jar of 400+ MGO which cost me about £40, but I see it as a good investment in my health.
And I couldn’t resist a further purchase of some Leatherwood Honey Ice Cream which was just phenomenal.
Melita is up in the northwest, but I also visited this smaller farm in the southeast, on the Tasman peninsula.
Tasman Honey www.tasmanhoney.com.au, 49 Hylands Rd, Murdunna
It’s a much smaller operation than Melita (just 400 hives) but they still have a good selection of varieties that you can try.
As well as getting more Leatherwood for presents, I also liked the taste of their Fennel (reminiscent of anise and licorice, good in a stir fry) and Prickly Pear (delicate and floral with a hint of fruitiness. Good in tea, marinades and salad dressings).
As a Psoriasis sufferer I also purchased some of their Psorcream which I found alleviated my dry skin but didn’t do anything to cure it.
They also sell Propolis, another supposed health product made from a mix of beeswax and bee saliva, but the shop owner, a very honest and direct lady, doubted its health benefits and was not a fan of how it tastes!
There are of course many more honey farms to try all over Tasmania, it’s a major industry there. Put ‘honey’ in the search box of my map and many more will come up.
However, if you can’t get to any of them, both Hobart and Launceston airport shops will stock several varieties. I also picked up two other honeys from the Tasmanian Honey Company range (mentioned in the first paragraph).
The lady in the shop said she thought that Leatherwood was best for cooking whereas Chritmas Bush (mellow with marzipan tones, from the Bursaria Spinosa plant which blooms around Christmas) is nice with baked goods like scones. The Meadow Honey is a general millefiori honey (1,000 flower honey) made from from clover, blackberry, thistle and many endemic species of wildflower. It’s good as a general sugar substitute in baking or drinks like tea.
So yes, I bought a lot of honey! If anyone is wondering you can take up to 2kg back to the UK if you’re travelling from outside the UK, but the customs website doesn’t specify if that includes the weight of the glass jars.
Truffles next!