Raw loquat honey 900 g

01 · SENSORY PROFILE

The fruit in the jar, with a subtle bitterness

Pale amber, the range of Rosaceae honeys. The aroma is floral with fruity notes recalling the loquat: stone fruit, ripe apple, a soft base of bitter almond. On the palate it is sweet with a subtle bitterness and a light astringency that leaves the mouth clean: the variety’s signature, what separates it from a sugary orange-blossom or rosemary. It crystallises fast because of its glucose; within a few weeks it turns creamy or grainy, and that is no defect.

02 · ORIGIN

Loquat from Callosa and the Costa Tropical, in winter

The Japanese loquat reached the Mediterranean in the 19th century and blooms in autumn, a rare pattern that makes it one of the few nectar sources of the Iberian winter. Only hives in mild microclimates forage then: Callosa d’en Sarrià and the Marina Baja in Alicante, and Almuñécar, Motril and Salobreña in Granada. Production is small and depends on the year. The packer declares it monofloral, with Eriobotrya pollen above 30 % of the spectrum, accompanied by legumes, wild radish, labiates and heather.

03 · WHAT RAW MEANS

Unpasteurised; what the law measures

“Raw” is the trade name of the range: honey bottled unpasteurised, so the fruity aroma, the first thing heat destroys, reaches the jar. Directive 2001/110/EC, in Spain Royal Decree 1049/2003, sets what betrays heat and age: HMF below 40 mg/kg and diastase of at least 8 Schade units; in a flower honey, conductivity stays below 0.8 mS/cm. Each lot’s values go in its quality sheet, not on this page.

04 · AT THE TABLE

Yoghurt, fresh cheeses and a spoonful at the end of the day

Its fruity profile with a bitter edge goes with plain yoghurt and curd, fresh cheeses (requesón, mató, ricotta), toasted almond and walnut, sponge cakes and muffins, and delicate infusions: chamomile, lime blossom, rooibos. Alone, by the spoon, it does not cloy. If it crystallises and you want it liquid, a gentle water bath not above 40 °C, stirring; never the microwave. Keep closed, cool and dry, no fridge. It is a food, not a treatment, and is not given to children under 12 months.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

One 900 g glass jar is supplied; the rest of the raw range (orange blossom, lemon, wildflower, forest) has its own pages.