Honey is a snapshot of a place at a moment in time. What the bees forage on changes with the seasons, and so does the honey. In Quebec, the honey harvested at the end of the season, our fall honey, is deep, amber and full-bodied, and it owes much of its character to one plant: goldenrod, or as we call it here, verge d'or.
At Miel D'or, fall is our harvest. We gather our honey by hand in the forests of Mascouche and Cap-Saint-Jacques once the late-summer bloom has done its work. Here is what makes autumn honey worth waiting for.
Goldenrod: the flower behind Quebec fall honey
From late August into fall, goldenrod lights up field edges, roadsides and forest clearings across Quebec with clouds of bright yellow flowers. For bees it is one of the last great nectar sources before winter, and they work it hard. That is why late-season honey in our region is, to a large extent, goldenrod honey. It is the taste of a Quebec autumn in a jar.
What fall honey tastes like
Compared with the light, delicate honeys of spring and early summer, fall honey is a different experience:
- Deeper color. Rich gold to warm amber, rather than pale and clear.
- Bolder flavor. Full-bodied and warm, with a rounded richness and a hint of spice. It stands up beautifully in tea, on toast, or drizzled over aged cheese.
- More antioxidants. As a rule of thumb, the darker the honey, the higher its antioxidant content, and fall honey is on the darker end of the scale.
- It crystallizes readily. Goldenrod honey tends to set quickly into a smooth, spreadable texture. That is a hallmark of the real, raw thing, not a flaw. If you want to soften it, see our guide on honey crystallization.
Why we only harvest fall honey
We have chosen to focus on the fall harvest because it is the honey that best expresses our corner of Quebec: the goldenrod-rich forests of Mascouche and Cap-Saint-Jacques at the end of the season. Rather than spread ourselves across every bloom, we do one harvest well, by hand, in small batches, and jar it raw and unfiltered so every bit of that autumn character stays intact.
How to enjoy it
Fall honey's boldness makes it wonderfully versatile. Stir it into a strong tea, spoon it over Greek yogurt, glaze roasted root vegetables, or pair it with sharp cheese on a board. For more ideas, see our five foods that pair perfectly with honey.
Taste this year's harvest
Because it is a seasonal, hand-harvested product, our fall honey is made in limited quantity each year. If you want to taste a true Quebec autumn, order a jar and pick it up in Laval, minutes from Montreal.
