The best honey is sweet. It’s sticky. It’s Winne-the-Pooh’s meal of choice. And, amazingly enough, it’s all very different. Yes, after reading this ranking of the best honey to buy, you might find out you need to own more than one bottle of honey.
You might think you know what honey tastes like, you might think it always comes in a bear, but you’d be wrong. Honey is a nuanced product whose flavor changes depending on where the bees forage. And there are many different types of honey even beyond that—there’s creamed honey, there’s honey with honeycomb, there’s hot honey, there’s manuka honey. So, what is the best honey? Over the course of multiple, very sticky taste tests, we tasted some of the best honey brands on the market and found all of the best tasting honey out there—from the best raw honey to the best organic honey to even the best honey for tea. Read on and find which honey is best for you!
- Miller’s Creamy Honey
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I tried a few different creamed honeys and Miller’s was the best. It was the only one that didn’t make me wince from the sweetness. While it’s certainly still quite sweet, it has some more nuanced floral flavors as well. It’s opaque, as any good creamed honey is, stretchy, and extremely spreadable. I’ll be honest, I’m still not totally sure why you would need creamed honey (please tell me in the comments!), but if you’re in the market, this is the best honey to buy.
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- First Street Mesquite Blossom
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First Street (a Smart & Final brand) tastes like what you imagine basic honey to taste like. It’s sweet. It’s fairly thick. It has a touch of that honey tang. It tastes like most of the other generic store brand honeys out there. But it stands out from the rest because of its brilliant packaging. It comes in a no-drip bottle that actually works. No more sticky pantry shelves, no honey bottle you dread touching. This is the best honey to keep on hand for your all-around honey needs.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Busy Bee America’s Truly Traceable Raw Honey
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Want to know the story behind your honey? This is the best honey brand for sure. It’s perfect for people who like true transparency in their food. Each bottle features information on the crop year, the primary flowers the bees pollinated, and where it was harvested and bottled. Of course, it’s also some of the best tasting honey—especially if you’re baking. It has wonderful notes of vanilla and a warm, caramelized flavor that would absolutely elevate any baked good or dessert.
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Nature Nate’s Raw & Unfiltered Honey
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This thick, unctuous honey leans more sweet than floral, but it also packs a zesty kick that you’ll feel in the back of your throat as the honey slides down. The citrusy notes make this honey the best honey for tea—particularly a mug of chamomile or mint. This is a soothing honey. Keep a bottle handy for your morning cup of tea to start the day with a calm vibe. And if you’re wondering about the psalm referenced on the label (119:103), here’s what it is: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.”
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Manukora Raw Manuka Honey
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This was the best tasting honey from our best manuka honey taste test. It doesn’t have the highest MGO level (MGO = methylglyoxal, an antiviral, antibacterial compound) but it is rich and sweet with a wonderfully thick texture. In her review, managing editor Gwynedd Stuart wrote that it is “special-occasion honey.” So grab a jar for not only medicinal purposes, but also for you next high tea.
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Jamie’s Hive to Table Raw Honey and Comb
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So, here’s the thing with this one. I’ve looked online and I’ve seen this product presented as a standard container of honey with an intact honeycomb suspended in the bottle. But I’ve also seen it like ours: with the honeycomb pureed into the honey to make an opaque honey smoothie. This was an experience.It has a bright tang and a spectacular aftertaste. And the little bits of comb are wonderfully chewy. “It reminds me of eating a sugar scrub but not in a bad way,” said Sporked senior staff writer Jordan Myrick. What is this for? I’m not sure. But should you get it? Yes. It’s the best honey with honeycomb we tasted.
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- 365 Mountain Forest Raw Honey
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This spreadable honey is different from the creamed honey. It’s much darker and less purely sweet. It has a waxy layer on top that you have to break through—and that’s just fun. It feels like you’re digging into a jar of honey from the pioneer times—something ma and pa put up in the spring and now you get to enjoy it in the winter. And it’s not just the experience factor. It tastes great, too. It’s extremely aromatic with lots of citrusy flavors. It’s buttery and smooth. It’s definitely not as useful as a pourable honey, though. But it’s some of the best raw honey to serve on a cheese board. And it’s also the best organic honey we tasted.
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Specially Selected Raw Honey
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If you’re regularly making cocktails at home, then you know that the best honey is just as essential as a workhorse whiskey and quality ice. The best honey for cocktails should be cheap (because you’re not enjoying it straight, so don’t splurge), easy to pour, and complementary to citrus juice. This honey checks all those boxes. While many of the other honeys on this list lean floral, this Aldi brand honey is straight fruity. It’s tangy and almost has tropical pineapple notes. Use it in your next batch of Bee’s Knees or even Whiskey Sours.
Credit: Liv Averett / Aldi
- Miller’s Raw Natural Clover Honey
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This raw honey is thick with orange blossom flavor. It wants, nay, deserves to be put front and center. Drizzle it onto a piece of toast and appreciate its deliciousness. Allow it to elevate your plain yogurt. Eat a spoonful of it as an afternoon treat. Plus, the packaging is just plain adorable. Use it as inspiration for a child’s nursery. Aside from our number one pick, this is the best raw honey we tasted—it’s thick and pure and delicious.
Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart
- Wild Mountain Honey
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I’m not totally sure what a mountain tastes like, let alone a wild mountain, and yet I’m pretty sure you can taste it in this honey. It is dark and mysterious, filled with flavors of caramelized oranges and pears. It also has some mesquite notes to it. This honey is complex and deserves to be brought to the savory table. Put a little bowlful of it on a cheese platter. Use it to baste ribs. Whisk it into a salad dressing. I took away a spork only because of the packaging. While jars are quaint, they’re not user friendly (especially when you’re extremely accident prone, like me).
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
- Bushwick Kitchen Bees Knees Spicy Honey
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This is the best hot honey from our best hot honey ranking. It doesn’t just have heat—it has fruity heat thanks to habañero peppers, which give the honey actual flavor rather than spice alone. Drizzle it on pizza. Dip chicken nuggets into it. Satisfy all your sweet-and-spicy needs with it. Because it’s the best honey for heatseekers.
Credit: Liv Averett / Sur La Table
- Local Hive Raw & Unfiltered Honey, SoCal
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Local Hive partners with, you guessed it, local bee farmers in different regions across the country to produce unique, seriously delicious honeys. Being based in Los Angeles, the Sporked team tasted the company’s SoCal honey. It’s incredibly versatile, balancing sweetness with floral notes and herbal notes. It’s beautifully thick and would work well in everything from tea to a marinade. Even though we can only speak for the SoCal honey, we’re willing to bet this is the best brand of honey to buy no matter your region.
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
Best Creamed Honey
Best No-Drip Bottle
Best Honey for Baking
Best Honey for Tea
Best Manuka Honey
Best with Honeycomb
Best Spreadable Honey
Best Honey for Cocktails
Best Raw Honey
Best Honey for Cooking
Best Hot Honey
Best of the Best
Other honeys we tried: Kroger Pure Clover Whipped Honey, Simply Nature Organic Wildflower Honey, Trader Joe’s Organic Unfiltered Honey, Trader Joe’s Mostly Mesquite Honey, Wholesome Raw Unfiltered Organic White Honey, Trader Joe’s Organic Raw Honey, Heavenly Organics White Honey Raw & Unfiltered, Peace River Organic Honey
