Raw Honey Review & Giveaway: Mohawk Valley Trading Co.

            Hey folks! I have another great review and giveaway to share with you today that I'm really excited about! As many of you have probably seen, I've been doing a 30 Day Honey Challenge to personally test whether raw honey actually works in giving you clearer skin. So, when I received the chance to try out several different varieties of raw honey from Mohawk Valley Trading Company, I jumped on the opportunity!

            Mohawk Valley Trading Company is based out of Utica, NY and offers beeswax candles, handmade soap, honey, natural skin care products, and dark, robust maple syrup. As far as their honey goes, they specialize in raw honey, but they do offer liquid honey as well. Not all honey is created equal (or processed, as the case may be). Not sure what the difference is?

            Raw honey comes from frames of honey comb being ran through an extractor that basically spins all of the honey off by centrifugal force. It is then strained to remove large bits of propolis, bee fragments, and wax and NEVER heated above the average temperature of the hive. This ensures as much "good stuff" remains in the honey as possible. (I'll get to that too.)
             Regular honey, or liquid honey, is processed the same way as raw honey except that it is pasteurized (heated to around 158 degrees Fahrenheit) to inhibit crystallization and kill off yeast that might cause fermentation. This heating causes honey to lose its pollen, enzymes, propolis, vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants, and aromatics. So, if you are using honey for its health benefits (ingesting to help with allergies, using it topically for wounds/burns, etc) it HAS TO BE raw honey. Otherwise it's pretty much pointless.
             I could go on and on about all of the interesting things I have learned about bees and honey from Mohawk Valley's website, but you can read more for yourself if you're interested by following the links above. Let's move on to the review!
            MVTC was generous enough to let me try 3 different varieties of their raw honey to review: Buckwheat, Summer Wildflower, and Tulip Poplar-Black Locust. To be honest, before I came across their site I had no idea there were so many specific types! They offer several other varieties as well, such as apple blossom and orange blossom.

From left to right: Summer Wildflower, Buckwheat, Tulip Poplar-Black Locust

 We'd already tapped into the left and middle one. Oops. :D You can see the crystallization in the Summer Wildflower one. Contrary to popular belief, this doesn't mean it's gone bad!

             

            As you can see from the photo above, the three varieties we received are very different from each other, not only in appearance but taste as well! The Raw Summer Wildflower Honey (left) was VERY sweet and had an almost lemony flavor to it. MVTC's site uses "pungent" as one of the words to describe the Raw Buckwheat Honey's flavor and my husband and I definitely agree. It doesn't really taste like honey, raw or liquid, that I've ever had. I can see why people say it's good for baking. (Which, btw, my husband used to make some biscuits with and I thought they were really good! He complained that he could taste the honey, though, because he had tried it plain before he made the biscuits and I hadn't. ha ha!) 

            The Tulip Poplar-Black Locust was my favorite by far. Compared to the other two it was almost bland. It tasted similar to the Summer Wildflower, but it was a LOT more subtle. I find myself using it the most often on my mid-day snack of honey and peanut butter on homemade bread. Yum! (Keep in mind that everyone tastes things slightly differently and the flavor of the honey itself will change some depending on season, what flowers are blooming at the time of production/harvest, etc.)

            Be sure to visit Mohawk Valley Trading Company's website HERE to view all of the wonderful, pure products they offer and learn more about how they're made and their significance! If you would like to win your own set of the honey I received for this review, be sure to enter the giveaway form below! Only your email is mandatory to enter, but the more entries you have, the better your chances are of winning! Good luck!

Entry-Form

Disclaimer: Getting Green with Baby received the above mentioned products in return for an honest review. Regardless, all opinions are my own and may differ from yours. GGWB and all other promoting blogs are not responsible for prize shipment. This giveaway is not affiliated in any way with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or any other social media platforms. If you have any questions regarding this giveaway, please email Alicia at GGWB at alicia owen 6814 at yahoo dot com.