Expert Honey Tasting Training Served Up

A desire to upskill the next generation of honey experts will see expert honey judge Maureen Conquer offer an “immersive” three-day honey sensory analysis training course in April – and the invite to attend is open to all.

Expert honey judge Maureen Conquer will lead an immersive three-day honey tasting experience in Auckland in April, and she invites attendees from all corners of the honey industry.

Following on from a successful first foray into a multi-day dive into the analysis of New Zealand honeys in Auckland in April 2024, Conquer has been motivated to offer up further education into the “art and skill” of honey sensory analysis.

The course is to once again be held in Auckland, April 2 – 4, where participants’ taste buds will be exposed to a wide range of honeys produced in New Zealand.

While the workshop is primarily designed for beekeepers, packers, and honey technicians for quality assessment, Conquer says it will also offer invaluable insight for chefs, food writers, nutritionists, or passionate foodies.

The 2024 course was the first time such a detailed training programme into honey analysis had been held in New Zealand, where Conquer called on her 13 years of experience as a local and international honey judge, and training in Italy.

“Participants will study the physiology and techniques of sensory analysis,” Conquer explains.

“They will learn to memorise, record, express and share their findings. Defects and solutions to mitigate those defects will be covered. Possible added value products, honey food matches and cooking with honey along with lots of opportunities to taste and record a diverse range of New Zealand honey.”

Much of that honey will come from her own collection, which not only includes a wide variety of well-known honeys from native plant species such as, mānuka, kanuka, rata, tawari, rewarewa and beech honey dew, but also introduced species such as clover, thyme and vipers bugloss. On top of those, there will be analysis of rarer and harder to collect honeys – lavender, orange blossom and even grape ‘honey’ – to help round out the training.

The selection of honey varieties sampled at the honey sensory analysis training course is wide ranging, from both native and introduced floral sources, plus ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ tastings.

“There is a lot more value that can be added to New Zealand honey if we can gain a greater appreciation for it and the subtleties between not just floral varieties, but everything which goes into making each batch of honey unique,” Conquer says, adding “other industries have taught us what is possible, but we need the knowledge and skill to tap into that value.”

Enquiries can be made to maureen@wildforage.co.nz / 021 956 349 / Course Fee $1100

A review of the 2024 experience is available here.