Fennel Honey (Saunf Honey): What It Is and How to Enjoy It

In most Indian homes, a small bowl of saunf (fennel seeds) appears after a meal. Fennel honey carries that same familiar, gently aromatic character in a spoonful of honey. It is one of the most unusual honeys you can try, and once you have tasted it, you will recognise it anywhere.

What is fennel honey?

Fennel honey is a monofloral honey, made when bees collect nectar mainly from the small yellow flowers of the fennel plant. Because the bees focus on one flower, the honey takes on that plant's distinctive aroma. (New to the idea? Read What Is Single-Origin Honey?)

What does fennel honey taste like?

It opens with a soft aniseed aroma, moves into a warm, herbal sweetness and finishes with a floral, slightly spicy depth. It is aromatic without being overpowering, and it tastes noticeably different from everyday multiflora honey.

Flavour notes: anise · herbal · warm spice · floral

How to enjoy fennel honey

• After meals: a small spoonful, just as you would enjoy saunf.
• In tea: stir into herbal tea, ginger tea or warm water. Add honey once the drink has cooled slightly, so the aroma isn't lost.
• With paneer or ricotta: drizzle over fresh cheese with cracked black pepper.
• On roasted vegetables: glaze carrots, beetroot or sweet potato in the last few minutes of roasting.
• In dressings: adds herbal depth to a simple lemon vinaigrette.

Fennel honey and Indian food traditions

Fennel has been part of Indian kitchens for generations, from mukhwas after meals to spice blends like panch phoron. Fennel honey fits naturally into those rituals and is a lovely, gentle way to end a meal on a sweet note.

How to choose fennel honey

• Choose a honey labelled clearly as fennel honey, not a flavoured syrup or a honey with added fennel flavour.
• Look for raw and unheated honey, which keeps the delicate aroma.
• Check that there is nothing added.
• A little natural crystallisation is normal.

BeeBlend Fennel Raw Honey is single-origin and unheated, in 160g and 250g jars. For after-meal tea on the go, you will also find it as 10g sachets in the Pure Honey Collection, alongside five other honeys.

Honey is not suitable for infants under 12 months.