In the United States, there are 300 different types of honey, and each of them has a different appearance, flavor, texture, and fragrance. One popular type of honey is something called clover honey. It’s known for its sweet taste, flowery flavor, and superbly pleasant mild taste. But, what is the difference between clover and regular honey? Let’s find out.
The primary difference between clover and regular honey is the floral source for the bees. Bees require floral sources to extract nectar to produce honey. The primary nectar source for clover honey will be from the clover flower, as you can guess by the name.
As you can see, the main difference between clover honey and regular honey is the floral source it comes from. Surprisingly, the nectar collected from different types of flowers plays a significant role in the final product of honey.
Want to know more about the difference that clover honey has over regular honey? You should become familiar with the below. After reading, you should be able to identify the two with just a glimpse of an eye.
Is clover honey the same as regular honey?
After reading the above, you can quickly determine that clover honey is not the same as regular honey. The nectar used to produce this honey specifically only comes from clover plants. Because of this, you’ll notice a difference in color, aroma, taste, aftertaste, and texture. Although it has slightly different characteristics, it still entails almost the same nutritional benefits.
To better visualize the difference between clover and regular honey, let’s first describe what they are.
What is clover honey?
Clover honey is a specific type of honey made by bees. It was branded clover honey due to the flower the nectar it’s collected from. As you can see, the flower’s name is clover or also known as Trifolium. These plants are usually found in most subtropical regions worldwide, apart from Southeast Asia and Australia. Because of the sheer number of locations in which the clover flower is grown, clover honey can be found in most grocery stores around the globe.
What is regular honey?
Regular honey is what you think it is, and it’s just plain-old regular honey. But what is this? Regular or pasteurized honey is the most common type of honey you can find globally. Beekeepers or honey makers use the pasteurization process to make the honey look more appealing, extend its shelf-life, and kill yeast cells, improving the overall taste of the honey.
However, due to the pasteurization process, many of the valuable antioxidants and nutrients found in honey start to disappear. This makes honey so beneficial for our bodies, and having reduced levels of these nutrients doesn’t provide us these advantages. Because of this, it’s considered healthier to consume clover honey over regular honey.
The differences between clover and regular honey
Now you understand the definitions of both clover and regular honey, it’s time to look into the different characteristics that both of these honeys obtain. From becoming knowledgeable on this, you should be able to tell them apart without a second thought.
Color
The first and most prominent difference is the physical appearance each of these honey entails. Although you can tell whether or not it isn’t’ regular honey from its color, this isn’t the same for clover. Many honeys like alfalfa, basswood, sourwood, sage, and even some fireweed honeys resemble clover honey. Here’s how you can tell the difference between clover and regular honey.
- Clover honey – When you’re looking at clover honey, you’ll notice it has a medium yellow color which holds some transparency through the honey.
- Regular honey – Whereas with regular honey, it has more of a dark orange color.
As you can see, the difference between clover and regular honey through colors is that clover is yellow, regular is orange. This color change is due to the nectar type, process used, and how it’s contained.
Aroma
Another characteristic that you can tell the difference between both clover and regular honey is the aroma. Although this can be a little harder to identify unless you understand both of the smells, it’s still something that can tear each of these honeys apart. Here’s what you need to know:
- Clover honey – The amora that clover honey equips is somewhat more flowery than other honeys. This is primarily due to the clover flower, as this naturally has quite a strong aroma compared to other flowers within its category.
- Regular honey – When you smell regular honey, it usually has quite a traditional smell. Because it’s pasteurized, the honey has been modified to look, smell and taste differently. Therefore, regular honey can usually smell earthy with a hint of sweetness.
Unless you’ve smelt both of these honeys before, it may seem challenging to tear each of them apart. However, once your honey nose becomes more adapted to smelling the different types of honeys, you’ll sure find this a helpful tactic to use.
Taste
Additionally to the above, each of them has very different tastes. For most people, this is a preferred method of identifying the different honeys. As a rule of thumb, the darker the honey, the more potent the taste is. Because we know the color of each of these honeys, we can suggest that clover honey is much milder than regular honey.
- Clover honey – You can expect to receive a light and mild taste with this type of honey. It has a delicate flavor, which can come across as pleasantly sweet.
- Regular honey – Typically, regular honey is much stronger and sweeter on your tastebuds. It’s a stronger flavor in which you can taste the natural sugars a lot more.
Honey tasting is like wine tasting. Some people are good at it, and others are not. Needless to say, it’s another superb method of identifying the difference between both clover and regular honey.
Aftertaste
Moving further down the list, and this is the aftertaste. As you can imagine, because both of these honeys taste different, you can expect to receive a distinct aftertaste between one another. Here’s how to identify clover and regular honey based on their aftertaste.
- Clover honey – We understand that clover honey is light and has a mild honey taste. After you initially consume this, you’ll be left with an aftertaste of something that resembles fresh hay. It sounds remarkably revolting, but it’s delicious.
- Regular honey – Whereas with regular honey, the taste is much more potent. Because of this, you can expect to receive a much more flowery aftertaste. Notably, this will vary from honey to honey, depending on how much pollen is found within it.
As you can see, the two honey types have a different aftertaste, which may be another way to identify clover honey over regular honey accurately.
Texture
The last difference we want to discuss is the overall texture o clover and regular honey. After becoming knowledgeable on the above, it’s only suitable to add this section to make a significant difference when identifying honey. Here’s what both clover and regular honeys texture is like:
- Clover honey – Compared to other types of honey, clover honey sticks out when it comes to texture. This is because clover honey crystallizes very fast due to its increased levels of glucose. You’ll be surprised that this doesn’t mean you can’t consume it, as it’s recommended to leave clover honey till it gets to this state. As a rule of thumb, if honey can crystallize, it’s a clear indication that it’s natural honey.
- Regular honey – Unlike the above, regular honey doesn’t tend to crystallize due to pasteurization. It goes through this process to make honey look more like the honey we know today. This involves changing the texture, color, smell, and even taste. Because of this, it strips the sole benefits you get in honey, like you usually receive with clover honey. With regular honey, you’ll notice it’ll have an exceptionally smooth texture.
After reading the above, you’ll undoubtedly be able to identify the difference between both clover and regular honey. Once you know the facts, it’s hard to forget them. This makes it perfect for when you need to identify either in the future.
Now you understand more about the differences between clover honey and regular honey. Let’s dive further into the topic of clover honey.
Is clover honey 100% honey?
Although many people believe that clover honey is modified during the harvesting and creation processes, they couldn’t be wrong. Clover honey is real honey, and it can also be organic if the bees produce it in regulated environments.
The reason clover honey has retrieved its name is solely because of clover flowers. Typically, bees that have harvested their nectar from clover flowers will provide clover honey. Although this may seem rare, clover is grown in many subtropical climates, and it’s one of the highest harvested types of honey in America.
Health benefits of clover honey
As you can see, clover honey is 100% honey. Along with this comes an array of different health benefits that clover honey could potentially offer you. Honey in general, but especially clover honey, is packed with various vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Due to this, you can receive some remarkable benefits to your health from regularly consuming clover honey within a balanced diet. The benefits vary widely. If you want to become familiar with these, read below:
1.Reduces blood pressure
The first and most significant benefit that clover honey can provide you is reduced blood pressure levels. Clover honey is known to be rich in both flavanols and antioxidants. It helps aid the flow of your blood around your body which ultimately reduces blood pressure. By obtaining lower blood pressure, you’ll protect your heart and become radically more fit than you once were before.
2.Lower bad cholesterol
Including the above, it can also lower the possibility of high cholesterol levels. Getting high cholesterol can cause you a whole hoax of problems which you’ll want to avoid at all costs. The most prominent issue can case it coronary heart disease or CHD. Therefore, reducing your cholesterol levels is extremely important. The sheer number of nutrients, minerals, antioxidants, and flavanols found in clover honey can reduce this from becoming an issue.
3.Decreases the chances of diseases
After reading the above, I’m sure you’re starting to understand how good honey truly is for our bodies and diet. It’s immense, but it can also decrease more diseases other than the ones mentioned above. These include:
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Cancer
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Parkinson’s disease
They reduce this by decreasing the number of free radicals in your body. Free radicals can be consumed anywhere and even through the air. It’s something that lives within our atmosphere, but It can cause damaging events. To reduce these free radicals from being an issue, consuming honey can reduce and even eliminate them from your body.
4.Can help kill bacteria
Honey is commonly used in various medicines because of its antibacterial properties. For example, clover honey is used in cough medicine because its ideal for soothing sore throats and irritation. But it doesn’t do just that. When honey hits a certain irritation point (like a throat), It can kill the bacteria and eliminate the cough.
5.Keeps your brain healthy
Lastly, it keeps your brain extremely healthy and young. In clover honey, it has a high content of phenolic acid. It’s known to protect the brain from the following brain conditions:
- Depression
- Epilepsy
- Brain injuries
- Parkinson’s disease
- Huntington’s disease
As you can see, consuming clover honey regularly with a balanced diet can provide you with some outstanding benefits. Some are more significant than others, but all offer you extreme health benefits that we all need to obtain.
Final words
After reading the above, you can now identify the difference between clover honey and regular honey. All in all, there are some vast differences, and clover honey is the healthier version of honey.
Now you understand this, will you be using clover honey instead of your regular honey?
