Letting the Mānuka Speak
Mānuka honey is one of Aotearoa’s most famous exports - known around the world for its powerful antibacterial properties, rich flavour, and deep connection to the native landscape.
Harvested from the flowers of the Leptospermum scoparium shrub, mānuka honey is unlike any other. It’s graded using UMF (Unique Mānuka Factor) or MGO levels to reflect its medicinal strength - with high-grade jars fetching hundreds of dollars internationally. From skincare to natural health remedies, it’s prized globally for its rare combination of purity, potency, and provenance.
As a New Zealand mead maker, we just had to find out what happens when you ferment this rare, medicinal honey.
That’s the question we set out to answer. Not to create a health drink, but to see what mānuka honey tastes like as a mead, with the sugars converted into alcohol. This is one of the great joys of mead making: every honey is unique, based on the flowers the bees have pollinated. When the sweetness ferments away, it reveals flavours far more intense than in its honey form.
We started with export-certified mānuka honey - earthy, intense, with deep herbal and smoky notes. It was never going to be easy. Mānuka’s high MGO content, low glucose, and dense composition make it one of the most challenging honeys to ferment. Through careful experimentation - adjusting yeast nutrition, temperature control, and residual sweetness - we found a process that softened the harsher edges.
The flavour reveal? WOW. Completely unique.
The result is a semi-sweet mead with real depth and complexity - notes of toffee, anise, forest wood, and a dry, lingering finish. And in winter, when gently mulled with orange and spice, it becomes something truly special - warm, comforting, and wildly popular at our market stalls.
All those flavours mentioned above? We add none of them. Just what the bees brought us from the mānuka flower. We let the mānuka speak.
Interested in trying Mānuka Mead?
We bottle in small batches and sell direct - check availability here. Or find us at your local market and try it hot (mulled) - it’s our best-seller through winter.
