Hawaiian Lehua Honey
The Lehua Honey is preferred by visitors and is also a local favorite. The flavor of the Lehua honey is very floral and uniquely sweet. The color of the honey ranges from white to a light amber, depending on the region of the island its collected. The Lehua Honey is a smooth, white honey that is thick and creamy. It is most distinguished for its texture, which is creamy and yet slightly crystallized. The flavor is sweet, but not overpowering. The taste could be described as floral. This is a mono-floral honey and because of the high proportion of glucose the Lehua honey contains, the more quickly it will crystallize. More rapidly it crystallizes the finer and smoother the crystals. In fact creamed honey is honey that has been crystallized so rapidly, that the minuscule crystals create a smooth, creamy texture.
If you enjoy the flavor of the Lehua Honey, you may also enjoy the Naalehu Wild Flower Honey that the bees collect with Monkey Pod and Kiawe nectar. The Lehua Honey is one of the four varieties included in our Honey Sampler.
Hawaiian Culture
Hawaiian legend speaks of a young man named ‘Ohi‘a and a beautiful young woman named Lehua who were in love. However, the fire goddess Pele wanted ‘Ohi’a for herself. When he refused, Pele was jealous rage and turned Ohi’a into an ugly tree.
Lehua as a result pleaded for Pele to turn ‘Ohi’a back into a man, but nothing could end Pele’s fury. The other gods felt sorrow for Lehua and so they turned her into a beautiful flower and placed her on the ‘Ohi’a tree.
Legend says that if a Lehua blossom is picked from the tree, rain will fall. The rain representing the tears shed by the Princess, since she cannot bear to be separated from her true love.
