Australian Supermarket Honey Taste Test: Cheap Brands Hold Up
Writer Nicholas Jordan and a judging panel tasted 27 honeys sold in Australian supermarkets. The cheapest was still delicious, if short on depth, and organic jars beat non-organic ones, a rare result for his taste tests.
Writer Nicholas Jordan and a panel of judges tasted 27 honeys sold in Australian supermarkets and found that even the cheapest was still delicious, according to a taste test published November 12, 2026. The australian supermarket honey taste results offered no real shocks, he wrote.
The finding matters at the shelf. Prices vary widely, and Jordan said earlier taste tests had shown that price is a poor guide to flavor.
How the test worked
Jordan ran the tasting with regular contributors to his column. He added two tasters with more formal honey-judging experience, Barbara Sweeney and Rebecca Bernstone.
Judges scored each honey on aroma, taste, viscosity and character, meaning depth and distinctiveness. The published scores rest on taste and character only.
What the judges found
Some flavors were hard to explain, Jordan wrote, but nothing was revolting. The cheapest honey on the shelf, which he suggested might be cut with sugar syrup, was still delicious, if lacking a little depth.
That makes picking a winner hard. Unlike hash browns, where a fairly objective ranking is possible, honey is a matter of finding the one that suits you, Jordan wrote.
Organic honeys outscored their non-organic rivals, which he said almost never happens in his taste tests. He pointed readers who want something that provokes a thought to the organic range and to honeys with a claim about botanicals, meaning the plants the bees feed on.
For an unfussy, sweet jar, he suggested supermarket homebrands and the regular ranges from Beechworth and Capilano.
Standout organic jars
Macro Organic Australian Pure Honey, 400g, sold at Woolworths for $7 ($1.75 per 100g), was the 24th honey of the day. Jordan compared it to walking into a Yayoi Kusama exhibition after a string of bland house inspections.
“Finally,” one reviewer wrote, “true beeroir. A complex and enjoyable window into Mother Nature’s house.” Another wrote only “ORANGE PEEL” and “HEAPS GOING ON”. Jordan recalled one taster saying loudly: “Now this is honey.”
Golden Nectar Organic Real Leatherwood Honey, 500g, was priced at $14 ($2.80 per 100g) at select grocers.
Jordan also noted that some producers sell the same or a very similar product to more than one company.
