eogaard
Well-Known Member
Not really an interesting thread-starter, but more of a personal self-lesson on learning about honey varietals. Last spring I went to a farmers market. There was a stand that was selling unfiltered honey. When I went up, the woman offered me a sample of buckwheat honey and I gladly accepted it, feeling proud of myself just for being at a farmers market and "trying the local fare" as opposed to supermarket clover honey or the unnamed stuff at the home brew shop. My opinion of the honey was that it had a slight barnyard flavor but lots of molasses and richness to it. So without bothering to try any other flavors, I picked up two jars and went on my way.
My original plan was to make a traditional mead using just buckwheat honey, but the more and more I read about the stuff, the more nervous I got. Nevertheless, I put together the batch and followed my usual procedure. Fast forward to 3 months later, a taste test to see how it was coming along. I took a sample and gave it a good taste. I quickly realized something horrible that I probably should've predicted: All of the molasses and rich flavors fermented out completely, leaving me with a dry wine that tasted and wreaked of pure barnyard grass.
At this point I wasn't about to back sweeten with more of it and risk accentuating the flavor, so I decided to go with something a little stronger: grape concentrate. Another mistake. The barnyard flavor was not masked at all, and now I'd added strong, syrupy grape to the mix. At this point I figured what the hell, might as well make an experiment of it, so I added a small dose of acid blend as well. 3 more months later, after another taste, I'd decided it was the worst thing I've ever tasted.
A few weeks after that, my good friend came into town from Alaska. I presented him with my conundrum and told him that if he would sample it and if he agreed with my opinion of how bad it tasted, I would dump the whole batch right there. I poured two very small glasses and we knocked them back. But before he could give me an answer he noticed a very confused look on my face, because I'll be damned if it wasn't at least a quarter less terrible than it was just three weeks earlier. He agreed and even pointed out that it had one or two redeeming qualities, so I shoved it back in the closet and am now hoping maybe someday in 2 years it could be serviceable as a cooking wine. Maybe.
But the lesson here for myself is I will from now on be more careful with my honey choices, and I will always compare with other varietals, specifically ones that I've found that I enjoy. Also, I'm sure it has its supporters, but I will never use buckwheat honey again!
My original plan was to make a traditional mead using just buckwheat honey, but the more and more I read about the stuff, the more nervous I got. Nevertheless, I put together the batch and followed my usual procedure. Fast forward to 3 months later, a taste test to see how it was coming along. I took a sample and gave it a good taste. I quickly realized something horrible that I probably should've predicted: All of the molasses and rich flavors fermented out completely, leaving me with a dry wine that tasted and wreaked of pure barnyard grass.
At this point I wasn't about to back sweeten with more of it and risk accentuating the flavor, so I decided to go with something a little stronger: grape concentrate. Another mistake. The barnyard flavor was not masked at all, and now I'd added strong, syrupy grape to the mix. At this point I figured what the hell, might as well make an experiment of it, so I added a small dose of acid blend as well. 3 more months later, after another taste, I'd decided it was the worst thing I've ever tasted.
A few weeks after that, my good friend came into town from Alaska. I presented him with my conundrum and told him that if he would sample it and if he agreed with my opinion of how bad it tasted, I would dump the whole batch right there. I poured two very small glasses and we knocked them back. But before he could give me an answer he noticed a very confused look on my face, because I'll be damned if it wasn't at least a quarter less terrible than it was just three weeks earlier. He agreed and even pointed out that it had one or two redeeming qualities, so I shoved it back in the closet and am now hoping maybe someday in 2 years it could be serviceable as a cooking wine. Maybe.
But the lesson here for myself is I will from now on be more careful with my honey choices, and I will always compare with other varietals, specifically ones that I've found that I enjoy. Also, I'm sure it has its supporters, but I will never use buckwheat honey again!