Founded 2026 · A collaborative reference project
A sensory record of American honey.
Add your harvest to the archive.
Italy has cataloged its monofloral honeys for decades through trained sensory panels. Nothing comparable exists for American honey. We are building it sample by sample — sourwood, tupelo, mesquite, buckwheat, star thistle — and describing each one in plain language anyone can taste against.
Standardized sensory panel evaluation
The method we follow
Modeled on Italian sensory analysis
Italian honey has been described by trained panels for roughly forty years — a shared descriptive vocabulary, controlled tasting conditions, and standardized recording, with a profile published only once the panel agrees. We use the same structure, built around a vocabulary we're actively developing for American honey rather than importing Italy's wholesale.
A shared vocabulary
A starting set of descriptors for aroma, flavor, persistence, and texture — so “warm, vegetal, faintly saline” means the same thing to every panelist.
Trained panels, not opinions
Every sample is assessed by several certified tasters. A profile is published only where the panel converges.
Repeatable conditions
Same sample size, same temperature, same order of tasting, same blind coding. Boring on purpose.
Who we are
A group of beekeepers and tasters, keeping notes
We met in a honey tasting class in May 2025, trained in the Italian method of sensory analysis, and earned our certifications together — then kept meeting, and kept wondering why nothing like it existed for American honey.
We can't build it from our own jars alone. That takes honey from hives all over the country, described by people who know their own bees best — which is where you come in.
Sensory Training
Certified through the same Italian-method program used to catalog Italy's monofloral honeys, Level 1 and Level 2.
Blind Protocols
Every sample is coded before tasting; a profile publishes only once an independent panel converges on it.
Community Sourced
Built jar by jar from beekeepers across the country — the people who actually know what's in the hive.
Two ways to help
For beekeepers
Donate a sample
Mail us eight ounces of a single-source honey. A trained panel documents its aroma, flavor, and texture, and sends you a written profile you can share with customers or keep for your own records.
See how it worksFor Level 2+ certified tasters
Join a tasting panel
Panels meet monthly over Zoom. A kit of coded samples arrives before the session; a small fee covers materials and shipping. Approved panelists receive the 2026 Panelist badge as a credential.
Check eligibility