Honey Paihia

It means every jar comes from their own hives around Paihia and the Far North, and is never blended with honey from other regions. Most mānuka on a shelf is pooled from multiple suppliers and districts before it is packed. Honey Paihia are beekeepers first, so the honey in the jar is what their own hives brought in that season.

Start with 263+ MGO if it is for toast and tea, since it is their mildest and most balanced. Step up to 500+ MGO if you want more of the mānuka character. The 800+ MGO is their strongest and tastes noticeably medicinal, which is why it comes in a 75g jar as well as the larger sizes, for people who take it by the spoon rather than spread it.

Cold creaming means the honey is stirred slowly over days instead of being warmed. Heating makes honey easier to pump and pack, and it costs the honey its thickness. Stirring builds a fine crystal structure instead, which is why every Honey Paihia jar is spoonable and spreadable straight from the cupboard rather than runny, and why it stays that way.

Yes. Where a grade is listed in both, the honey and the MGO rating are identical and only the packaging differs. Glass looks better as a gift and on a table, while the PET tubs are lighter and harder to break, which makes them the sensible choice for posting, travelling or a bag that gets knocked about.

Every batch is tested by infrared spectroscopy to measure its methylglyoxal, and the grade printed on the jar is the minimum that batch met, not an average. Their mānuka jars also carry NZ Certified Export Grade on the label, and Honey Paihia are an approved honey export agent, so the same honey meets the requirements for leaving the country.

They are the three non-mānuka honeys, and all are cold creamed like the rest. Bush Necta is a mild bush blend and their best seller, the safest choice for a household. Floral Harvest is a late-season multifloral, fuller and more floral. G'n'T is wild ginger and towai with kānuka, and tastes of butterscotch and citrus, so it is the one to try once you already know the other two.

Match the size to how you will use it. The 75g and 150g glass jars suit the 800+ grade, a gift or a first try. The 250g jars are the everyday size for most households. The 500g tubs are the best value per gram and make sense for the 263+ grade, which is the one people get through fastest on toast.