Tupelo Honey the Gourmet Gift
The Apalachicola River Basin has become known as the Tupelo Honey Capital of the world. Wewahitchka, FL, locally called “Wewa”, is the unofficial town to represent the origin of this premier gourmet honey. Wewa adjoins the Apalachicola and Chipola rivers in north Florida near Panama City. This area of Florida is one of the few areas that Ogeechee Tupelo grows profusely enough to harvest tupelo as a monofloral honey.
The tupelo tree, Nyssa ogeche, or White Ogeechee Tupelo ranges from the borders of South Carolina near the coast, transversing the Ogeechee Valley of Georgia following through Clay County in northern Florida and ending in Washington County in western Florida. The tupelo name originates from the native Indian Creek words ‘opelwu’ for ’swamp’ and ‘eto’ for ‘tree’. The tupelo only thrives in swamp conditions similar to the habitat of the bald cypress.
Tupelo is a varietal honey, which means it has only one flower source that the nectar is gathered from. The pure white tupelo honey is produced only in the Florida panhandle commercially. Due to land development, drought, changing river hydrology, exotic pests, and changing world climate, the annual tupelo honey harvest appears to be shrinking.
Tupelo honey is gathered from platforms in the water to support the beehives and near the groves of tupelo trees. The degree of difficulty to harvest the 70 pound honey boxes increases while harvesting from boats or waders.
Tupelo honey is the number one gourmet honey worldwide, not because of the degree of difficulty to harvest, but the TASTE! White tupelo honey has a translucent amber color with a slightly iridescent highlight. The flavor is so identifiable that it is compared to having the aroma of a floral bouquet, a slight taste of fruit and a finish on the palate that is smooth and pleasant. Tupelo is considered the sweetest of all honeys. Tupelo honey with an analysis of 44.03% Levulose and 29.98% dextrose will not granulate because of the high levulose content.
Gourmet Tupelo honey is one of the most expensive honeys to harvest. However this honey is one of the wonders of the natural world. One should experience the tupelo taste that the Pharaohs missed. When sending gifts, remember, the best received gift is a gormet gift, THAT TASTE GOOD!
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