TIL my $80 'gourmet' honey was just corn syrup with bee marketing

Last month I grabbed a fancy jar from a farmer's market in Austin, paid $80 because the label had a picture of a happy bee and the word 'raw.' Got home, tasted it, and it was basically liquid sugar with a hint of cardboard. I did the cheap home test, dissolved a spoonful in water, and the fake stuff just sits there while real honey makes a honeycomb pattern. The seller had a 15 minute spiel about their 'single origin' hives, but I found the same jar at a gas station for $4 two weeks later. Has anyone else gotten burned by overpriced food that's just clever packaging? I'd rather pay $12 for the local stuff that actually tastes like flowers.

2 comments

2 Comments

christopher_sullivan19d ago

I mean, hold on. Is it really fair to blame the packaging when you paid $80 for a jar without checking the label past the picture of the bee? You said it yourself, the taste was off from the first spoonful, and if you were buying for flavor, why did the story about single origin hives matter more than what was in your mouth? That gas station jar for $4 probably had the same corn syrup base and at least you knew what you were getting. Maybe the real con here is expecting any honey from a farmer's market in Austin to taste like flowers, since half of that stuff is just rebottled bulk syrup anyway. You got burned because you wanted the story, not because the seller was some genius, and I'd argue that's on the buyer for romanticizing a jar instead of doing the five second water test in the store.

norag6618d ago

Funny thing is, I almost did the same thing at a market a few years back. A guy had these tiny jars with handwritten labels and a story about his bees foraging on wildflowers upstate. I was all in until I noticed he had the same jars in three different colors with three different stories. Turned out he was just adding food coloring to the same batch. Now I only buy from people who let me taste it first, and if they won't, I walk. The water test is fine and all, but your mouth is the fastest filter. Spend the $80 again? No, but I did learn to treat any honey with a pretty label as a maybe, not a promise.