A sweet day

The physician who was going to melt the nerves on one side of my back mentioned a few weeks ago, during a visit when my nose was running and my eyes were swollen from allergy, that I might try local raw honey as a remedy for my allergies. She said she had terrible allergies two years ago, but once she started making raw honey part of her daily diet, her allergies disappeared.

I googled it and found that there is research supporting this idea, and honey is also thought to be anti-inflammatory. I googled again, “Local honey near me” and found this place, Bee-licious Honey, about twenty minutes away by car, and today, with Sue’s car, I finally found the place and ended up buying a few samplers and several small jars of raw honey, some to serve as gifts: Thistle, Fireweed, Meadowfoam, and a Catalonian honey that contains pollen, royal jelly, and propolis. Sue had hoped I could buy her some Coriander and Wildflower, but they were out of stock on those.

I met Jeff Garner, who shares the business with his partner, Jennifer Lytle. They have a few hives themselves, and they get vats of honey from other beekeepers in this area (not all of it strictly local, but from western Oregon). They also sell honey from Hawaii and from Catalonia, and Jeff is hoping to become a honey sommelier. 

He tells me there are only 60 honey sommeliers in the world, most of those in Europe, and he has enrolled in a training program based in Italy and is hoping to become number 61. “What could be better,” he asked me, “than spending your days traveling the world, smelling honey, tasting honey, learning about honey, and helping people find the kind of honey that improves their health and gives them pleasure?” 

An example of how a budding sommelier describes Meadowfoam Honey is on the website: "This rare single source Oregon varietal honey has a deep amber hue and a velvety texture with flavor notes of caramelized custard and marshmallows with hints of creme brulee and burnt sugar."