Plessis St Jean is a community in the Yonne district of Burgundy, about 2 hours south of Paris. The district is named for the river that runs through it, and its capitol is Auxerre. Plessis St Jean is a small, picturesque village in the rolling, countryside of Yonne with about 200 residents. Moriot Joël owns a farm there and also collects and jars his own honey. It is a jar of his Spring Honey that I have.
It is hard to know what flowers are the source of this honey. I tried to research what types of spring flowers there are in the region but came up empty. I suspect that it is a mixture of many different meadow and forest wildflowers. I think honey that is not identified as having a specific source is likely collected from hives that are placed in fields with all sorts of things growing.
The spring honey that I have is cloudy, like a whipped honey. It is somewhat thick but doesn't loop onto a toothpick very well. It breaks off in threads. It has a shiny, glassy, almost oily sheen to it. It is very sweet. In fact, the sweetness overpowers any subtle perfumes it may have, and it stays sweet from beginning to end. Near the very end, though, there is a tiny (tiny) taste of flowers. I may be imagining it; I desperately want this honey to have a hint of spring flowers (!)
Given its even flavor throughout and its powerful sweetness this honey is perfect for baking or in fragrant teas where you don't want the honey to color or overpower the tea flavor. It may be less interesting on its own, on bread or in hot cereal.
M. Joël does not have a website so I suspect you can only find this honey locally.
Honey Archives: A tour of honey from around the world.
