ΤΟ ΦΥΤΟ KAMAHI

Kamahi


Kamahi FlowersKamahi honey has traditionally been one of New Zealand's most under rated honeys.

While it is produced in both the North and South Islands, most Kamahi honey is produced on the West Coast of the South Island.

Here Kamahi trees (Weinmannia racemosa) form a significant part of the forest canopy, growing to around 25 metres at maturity.

Prior to market differentiation of different honey types facilitated by our in house laboratory, Kamahi honeyKamahi flower closeup was extracted as the main Spring honey type and little effort was made to separate other honey types.

One of these is Quintinea (Quintinea acutifolia), a honey with a very bitter aftertaste. It is likely that this honey type is the source of Kamahi's early reputation of a poor honey type.

Our laboratory techniques enable us to separate this flavour profile from the good quality Kamahi honeys we select to represent this excellent honey.

While quite a strong flavoured honey, Kamahi is in fact a honey with very complex flavours and aftertones that send honey gourmets into paroxysms of delight.

Cooking and baking recipes, where it is desirable to have an identifiable honey flavour, benefit immensely from these flavour sensations.

Towhai (W. silvicola also known as Towhero), is another close relative of kamahi found only in the North Island.

The two honeys are similar but flowering for kamahi is late October to December, while Towhai flowers later into Summer (Dec to Feb in the Southern Hemisphere).
Kamahi Tree

Colour

Kamahi averages 39mm on the Pfund Scale with a standard deviation of 8.5mm. It has a more yellow hue than the Pfund grader standard.

Sugar Profile

Kamahi has a lower than average fructose level (34.7%) and a (Glucose-Water)/Fructose ratio of 0.343 putting it in the middle of normal for crystallizing speed. Empiraclly however Kamahi tends to crystallize faster than average (for New Zealand honey types) and we pack it as a creamed honey for this reason.