{"id":5578,"date":"2026-09-03T17:33:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T17:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/5578\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T17:33:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T17:33:19","slug":"the-rare-appalachian-honey-chefs-cant-get-enough-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/5578\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rare Appalachian Honey Chefs Can\u2019t Get Enough Of"},"content":{"rendered":"

In most U.S. grocers, the honey section tends to revolve around a familiar mix of clover and wildflower honeys, generic blends and maybe a few local jars. A lot of them probably come in squeezable smiling bears. That limited assortment can make honey seem like an interchangeable pantry staple, when in fact the ingredient\u2019s flavor can be greatly shaped by climate, season and place. It wasn\u2019t until I encountered sourwood honey that it became clear to me how much one jar can diverge from another.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the honey world, it\u2019s a secret we\u2019ve all known about.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is sourwood honey?
Sourwood honey, produced by bees from the nectar of sourwood trees, is a specialty of the southern Appalachian region of the United States, especially the mountainous areas around north Georgia, western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. For an ingredient that has repeatedly earned top accolades at prestigious honey competitions, it has remained something of a regional secret. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a sleeping giant,\u201d says Jay Williams, beekeeper at Southall Farm and Inn in Franklin, Tennessee. \u201cBut honestly, in the honey world, it\u2019s a secret we\u2019ve all known about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Close-up
\n \"Close-up<\/p>\n

Close-up of sourwood tree. \u00a9 MarinoDenisenko\/Adobe Stock<\/p>\n

\"The
\n \"The<\/p>\n

The bees that create some of what’s considered the best honey in the world. \u00a9 Southall<\/p>\n

What does it taste like?
For anyone whose exposure to honey has mostly been the mass-market varieties, sourwood honey widens the aperture of what honey can be. Williams describes it as less sweet than most people may be used to, with a buttery, savory quality and undertones of warm spice. \u201cThere\u2019s an umami feel to it. It\u2019s got caramel notes. It\u2019s got spicy notes of cinnamon, and maybe a little anise,\u201d he says. \u201cSourwood honey, to me, tastes like the holidays.\u201d <\/p>\n

For Williams, the honey\u2019s savory undercurrent makes it a natural accompaniment to ingredients with a similar heartiness and heft \u2014 say, a drizzle over roasted root vegetables for a memorable finishing touch. Terry Koval, chef-owner of The Deer and The Dove in Decatur, Georgia, channels this instinct, serving it with sturdy, earthy vegetables like salsify, rutabaga and sweet potatoes. <\/p>\n

Sourwood honey\u2019s complex flavor profile can also include a faintly bitter edge. Jarrett Stieber, the chef-owner of Atlanta restaurant Little Bear, finds a pleasant bitterness to the honey that, coupled with its \u201cbrown sugar undertones,\u201d as he puts it, remind him of amaro \u2014 and his bar program indeed uses it to sweeten amari and vermouth. <\/p>\n

Contrary to its name, sourwood honey is not obviously tart (the name derives from the sour taste of the tree\u2019s leaves), but Stieber points out that it does deliver a whisper of tang. At Little Bear, he marinates late-summer squashes in a blend of Korean chile flakes, herb-infused vinegar and sourwood honey, a dish in which the vinegar\u2019s tartness plays off the honey\u2019s faint tart notes. \u201cIt has a harmonious way of blending into a sauce,\u201d he says, noting that the final dish doesn\u2019t taste markedly sweet or honey-forward. \u201cIt just sort of falls in line with everything else.\u201d <\/p>\n

The honey\u2019s well-rounded flavor can make it highly versatile in the kitchen. \u201cI just loved the mildness of it,\u201d says Trevor Stockton, executive chef at The Restaurant at RT Lodge in Maryville, Tennessee, recalling his first time tasting the ingredient when he first moved to the state around 16 years ago. \u201cIt lent just the right amount of sweetness.\u201d He was inspired to serve the restaurant\u2019s signature fried chicken dish with a fermented jalape\u00f1o hot sauce as well as a little jar of sourwood honey. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t give you that overpowering clover honey flavor. It gives you a sweetness without changing what you\u2019re eating too much.\u201d <\/p>\n

By that same logic, RT Lodge also uses it to glaze grilled-peaches for a pound cake, the honey imparting a mild nectarousness that doesn\u2019t eclipse the floral, caramelized character of the stone fruit.<\/p>\n

\"The
\n \"The<\/p>\n

The bees hard at work on the hive. \u00a9 The Nomadic People<\/p>\n

\"Fried
\n \"Fried<\/p>\n

Fried chicken from RT Lodge and marinated squash salad from Little Bear. \u00a9 Jordan Hunter | \u00a9 Little Bear<\/p>\n

What makes it so rare?
In order to produce sourwood honey, beekeepers need enough flowering sourwood in the vicinity that its nectar dominates what the bees bring back to their hive. Sourwood trees flourish in the acidic soils of the southern Appalachians, where the trees\u2019 abundance has helped cement the honey\u2019s deep cultural association with this region. \u201cIt\u2019s the soil, the rain, the temperature, the humidity. All those things work together,\u201d says Williams. <\/p>\n

Sourwood trees only blossom for a handful of weeks during summer \u2014 typically around June or July \u2014 giving bees a short-lived window to collect nectar and produce honey. The brevity of the season, together with the limited growing range where the trees thrive, naturally cap annual production. Weather conditions in a given year can also significantly impact nectar flow and what the bee colonies are able to gather. Much like vintage wines, each batch of honey ends up being a record and expression of that year\u2019s conditions. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe remember our years, at least at Southall, based on the honey,\u201d says Williams. \u201cIt\u2019ll tell you what happened during the season.\u201d <\/p>\n

For anyone well acquainted with these landscapes, sourwood honey can taste and feel like a distillation of that environment. \u201cThe sound of the cicadas and the tree frogs, and everywhere smells like honeysuckles and grass that\u2019s been baking in the sun all day,\u201d recalls Stieber, describing warm summer nights of his childhood. \u201cThere’s a lot of unique, nostalgic terroir that shows up in [sourwood honey] that people like me are really familiar with because it’s where we grew up.\u201d <\/p>\n

As coveted as the ingredient is, high-quality sourwood honey is unlikely to be distributed nationally on a wide scale anytime soon. Stockton advises that the best way to find it, and to ensure you\u2019re getting the real thing, is to seek out Appalachian markets that source straight from local producers, or to buy directly from beekeepers (such as MtnHoney \u2014 whose sourwood honey has won many gold medals for \u201cBest Honey in the World\u201d \u2014 the Blue Ridge Honey Company or Baxter Hollow Farm). Or, of course, visit a restaurant that serves it.<\/p>\n

\"Beekeeper
\n \"Beekeeper<\/p>\n

Beekeeper collecting honey from the hive. \u00a9 Southall<\/p>\n

\"Beekeepers
\n \"Beekeepers<\/p>\n

Beekeepers need enough flowering sourwood that its nectar dominates what the bees bring back to their hive. \u00a9 Southall<\/p>\n

Hero image: Sourwood honey is harvested during a fleeting Appalachian bloom and prized for its complex, savory flavor and hints of warm spice.. \u00a9 Southall
Thumb image:\u00a0RT Lodge Fried Chicken. \u00a9 Jordan Hunter<\/p>\n

\"\"\/
\n \"\"\/<\/p>\n

\n Written by
\n Megan Zhang\n <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In most U.S. grocers, the honey section tends to revolve around a familiar mix of clover and wildflower honeys, generic blends and maybe a few local jars. A lot of them probably come in squeezable smiling bears. That limited assortment can make honey seem like an interchangeable pantry staple, when in fact the ingredient\u2019s flavor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-5578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chefs","tag-chef"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dnc\/117208311637538724","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}