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Are you a honey lover looking to take your taste buds on an amazing journey? Look no further than the delicious richness of Manuka honey.
What Is Manuka Honey?
Manuka honey is a type of honey that is produced mainly in New Zealand and Australia. The manuka tree, also known as tea tree or leptospermum scoparium, produces a unique nectar that helps to create this special type of honey. The manuka flower only blooms for 2 to 6 weeks each year, making this honey extremely rare.
Compared to regular honey, manuka honey has many health benefits. When you consume manuka honey it may boost your immune system and support gut health.
Authentic manuka honey has antibacterial, healing and anti-inflammatory properties, which makes it a popular choice for those who are looking for a natural way to improve their health. When you eat manuka honey, it not only tastes good but can help to soothe a sore throat.
Manuka Honey Grading Systems
Manuka honey, the highly sought-after superfood product with an impressive array of nutritional health benefits, has become a popular health supplement around the world. There are many different types of manuka honey on the market.
To ensure quality and consistency, the UMF Honey Association developed a manuka honey grading system based on both scientific evidence and industry standards that grades manuka honey into several different UMF certified qualities—UMF 5+, UMF 10+, UMF 15+, and UMF 20+. The highest manuka honey grade available is 32+, which is extremely rare and expensive.
The UMF grading system is based on measurements such as leptosperin, methylglyoxal (MGO) levels, dihydroxyacetone (DHA) levels, hydrogen peroxide activity, and other non-peroxide activity (NPA). UMF certified honey must meet strict criteria – a guarantee for customers who demand only the best in authentic UMF certified manuka honey.
How to Choose Manuka Honey
When it comes to choosing the right Manuka honey, personal preference plays an important role. While there are many brands available to purchase, each offers a unique flavor and potency profile that can impact your overall experience with the product.
To find the right Manuka honey for you, start by evaluating the different options available both in-store and online. Carefully read manuka honey labels to check each product’s unique characteristics. Do some research on the brand’s certification and purity ratings to get a better understanding of the quality of their product.
Additionally, consider what you plan to use the honey for. If you’re looking for an all-purpose solution, opt for a medium-rating UMF honey that has a balanced flavor profile.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for something to add subtle sweetness or drizzle over dishes, choose a lower-rated UMF honey with lighter flavors. Ultimately, choosing Manuka honey should be all about discovering which option works best with your individual taste buds and lifestyle needs.
Where Can You Buy Manuka Honey?
These days, you can often find genuine manuka honey in an upmarket grocery store. The best place to buy manuka honey is often in health stores such as Whole Foods where you’ll genuinely find a wider range to choose from.
At farmer’s markets, you’ll hopefully get a chance to sample a few different brands to find the best tasting manuka honey.
There’s an even broader selection of pure manuka honey brands online, and most of them will ship internationally. Look for the UMF association logo on the label and that it is monofloral honey, sourced from one flower.
What Are The Best Manuka Honey Brands?
Manuka honey has long been known for its natural healing properties and unique flavor profile, making it an increasingly popular choice for health-conscious foodies. We’ll now dive into the details of some of the best manuka honey brands on the market today – their background, cost, taste profile, and how they can fit into your everyday life.
- Manuka Doctor
Manuka Doctor is an excellent high-quality brand of Manuka honey that is perfect for everyday consumption. Grown in New Zealand and tested for high concentrations of manuka pollen, this versatile product has countless uses from making soothing hot drinks to using as a therapeutic aid.
Manuka Doctor’s high concentration of MGO makes it one of the best manuka honeys available. In addition to its high quality, Manuka Doctor also comes in a variety of sizes and packages to better suit your preferred usage.
With its undeniable quality and affordable price, Manuka Doctor offers the ultimate Manuka honey experience.
- Wedderspoon
Wedderspoon is considered one of the leading manuka honey brands in the world. All of its products are ethically sourced from New Zealand, making sure to never compromise on quality or efficacy.
The company is known for contributing to research regarding the holistic health benefits of manuka honey and works closely with local beekeepers and communities to ensure the most sustainable practices in beekeeping and manuka honey production. Wedderspoon manuka honey has a wide range catering to different needs, such as organic raw monofloral manuka honey, propolis sprays, and immunity gummies for daily wellbeing.
With many awards under its belt, Wedderspoon is set apart as one of the finest raw manuka honey brands out there.
- Comvita
Comvita is one of the leading genuine manuka honey brands in the world. Established in 1974, this New Zealand-based company uses their own beehives together with carefully selected apiaries to ensure the highest quality and taste for their products.
Their genuine manuka honey is verified under the Manuka Honey MGO Rating System and the UMF standard. With Comvita manuka honey, you can be sure you are getting a quality product with a smooth yet distinct flavor. This has made them a favorite among honey connoisseurs across the world.
- Kiva
Kiva is a good quality manuka honey brand widely admired for its purity and uniqueness. It comes from New Zealand where the manuka bushes flourish, giving us some of the best manuka honey on earth.
Kiva manuka honey has a rich flavor and color that sets it apart from other brands, while their harvesting and bottling processes are done with the utmost care to ensure quality. The professionals at Kiva pay careful attention to ensure their product meets all the criteria for the highest grade-A manuka honey and is traceable from hive to jar.
Kiva raw manuka honey has been proven to have nutritional benefits, such as offering relief from digestive conditions and supporting good heart health. So you can find good quality manuka honey that won’t disappoint when you shop with Kiva.
- ManukaGuard
ManukaGuard is one of the best manuka honey brands out there, thanks to their real manuka honey sourced from New Zealand. Manuka honey has been used for centuries for its purported medicinal qualities, giving it a well-deserved reputation as one of nature’s finest healers.
ManukaGuard sources pure, unpasteurized manuka honey which has been officially tested and certified in laboratories to guarantee its superior quality. Their medical-grade manuka honey products help promote healing and provide powerful immune support.
They are also known for their manuka honey nasal sprays. With ManukaGuard, you get real benefits from real manuka honey that offers your body the therapeutic power of nature’s most amazing health food.
- Steens
Steens is one of the best manuka honey brands out there, producing raw manuka honey from New Zealand. This raw honey is responsibly sourced and carefully processed to bring the highest quality natural products straight to your doorstep.
Steens offers a range of raw manuka honeys, so you can choose the perfect strength for your needs. They range from MGO 40 to MGO 1122 (UMF 24+). With their commitment to product excellence, you can trust that whatever raw honey you purchase from them will exceed your expectations.
- Airborne Honey Ltd
Going strong since 1910, Airborne Honey Ltd is known for its in-house laboratory and manuka honey with antimicrobial properties and highly nutritive properties. Airborne has taken the manuka honey market by storm with their range of products that have been certified as having high antioxidant levels and some of the lowest levels of heat damage around.
One of the best manuka honey brands, they have the ability to trace honey from batch numbers back to each individual apiary (site of hives). They use the finest nectar from the manuka forests of New Zealand.
Airborne not only provides you with an amazing range of natural flavors but also with assurance that the honey you buy is 100% pure and free of contaminants.
- Pacific Resources International (PRI)
PRI Manuka honey is one of the most sought-after manuka honey brands on the market, boasting exceptional quality and potency. This quality honey is harvested from some of the highest-grade hives located in beautiful regions of New Zealand.
Each PRI Manuka honey jar is tested to meet stringent international criteria, ensuring its authenticity and surpassing performance. PRI also works to preserve our planet’s precious nectar flow by educating and empowering local beekeepers with sustainable practices that help their bees thrive in conservation efforts.
PRI’s commitment to unique harvesting methods coupled with support for environmental initiatives makes their Manuka Honey a top choice for those seeking the highest grade of manuka available today. As well as manuka honey, they also sell manuka honey lozenges and manuka honey sticks.
- WildCape
WildCape is gaining increased recognition in New Zealand and abroad as one of the best manuka honey brands on the market. Their philosophy revolves around select New Zealand beekeepers who work hard to sustainably yield unique New Zealand manuka honey that has both a robust flavor and medicinal value.
Their commitment to quality assurance means all their products have been certified with a Unique Manuka Factor (UMF) rating, assuring you of its genuineness and purity when you purchase WildCape manuka honey. So for those in search of an excellent New Zealand manuka honey, look no further than WildCape!
- New Zealand Honey Co.
New Zealand Honey Co. is the real deal when it comes to quality honey products. This brand produces some of the best honey available in the world, harvested from New Zealand’s clean and lush meadows.
With an emphasis on providing top-notch customer service and a commitment to using ethical practices while producing pure raw honey, this company excels at delivering exceptional products to its customers.
Not only that, its range of affordable manuka honey won’t break the bank.
Final Thoughts on The Best Manuka Honey Brands
With so many different brands of Manuka honey on the market, it can be difficult to know which one to choose. We’ve done the research for you and compiled a list of the best Manuka honey brands, based on quality and flavor. Check for UMF certification when purchasing manuka honey.
If you’re looking for a delicious, high-quality Manuka honey, any of these brands would be a great choice. There are quite a few other manuka honey brands, so make sure to read the labels carefully when purchasing. Be sure to check out our other food articles for more tips and advice on choosing the best products.