4 Ways To Tell If Your Honey Is Real

Honey is nature's sweetener, and like many of our friends in the animal kingdom, us humans can't get enough of it. Unfortunately, this has led to some suppliers cutting their honey with other additives, such as corn syrup or unrefined sugar. These bottles of adulterated honey have infiltrated grocery stores all over and use misleading marketing to trick customers into buying an inferior product. This practice is so common and serious that it has its own name: honey laundering. There's nothing wrong with picking up diluted honey to save a couple bucks as long as you know what you're getting, but real honey has qualities the fake stuff just can't replicate. Whether you're trying to sweeten your coffee or want to make homemade hot honey, it's imperative you find an authentic, high-quality product.

One way you can always buy real honey is to patronize your neighborhood farmer's market to find people who make the stuff locally. This way, you can see exactly what goes into the honey while also supporting the beekeeping cottage industry.

Before you bring any bottle of honey home, thoroughly inspect the label for any clues that the contents may or may not be genuine. Real honey should only have one ingredient: honey. If a jar of honey has anything else listed under its ingredients, it can't officially be called "honey" and is best left on the shelves. While checking out the honey bottle, also look out for the label "True Source Certified." Aside from buying directly from local beekeepers, this is the best way to ensure the honey is unaltered and comes from an ethical source.

Checking out a bottle of honey can also illuminate its authenticity after it's been in your pantry for a while. When real honey is kept in the dark for a long period of time, it will eventually form crystals. You can learn more about why honey crystalizes and how to fix it here.

Real honey is extremely thick and viscous, so testing the consistency is a quick way to check for an adulterated product. If you want to do this without getting your hands sticky, you'll need a glass of water. Simply add a spoonful of honey to the water, and try to mix it in. If the honey mixes with the water easily, it's not real. Bona fide honey is thick enough that it should maintain its gooeyness.

To cut down on dishes, you can always just squeeze a bit of honey onto the tip of your finger. Real raw honey should hold its shape, not drip or ooze down. 

For even more proof that your honey is veritable, squirt some in a bowl and pop it in the microwave for a minute. Keep an eye on the honey as it cooks so that it doesn't burn, and only run the microwave for a few seconds at a time. If the honey starts to crack and bubble, it's likely not genuine. But, if the honey becomes smooth and starts to caramelize, you're dealing with the real thing.

A slightly more dramatic way to test honey involves a match. Incredibly, if you pour real raw honey over a match, you will still be able to light it. This is because honey doesn't contain a lot of moisture. Fake honey, on the other hand, will be too wet for the match to catch fire.

There are plenty of other methods for testing if honey is real, like putting a dollop on a plate and resting a piece of paper over it. Since authentic honey isn't very moist, it shouldn't seep into the paper, while fake honey will.

Your sense of taste will also tell you a lot about the quality of your honey. Honey that has been altered has a basic, sweet flavor that can become unpleasant after a while. You can tell honey is all natural if it melts away in your mouth and has an enjoyable depth of flavor. Real honey should be slightly botanical, with a unique taste that can't be achieved with any other ingredients.