Thyme honey has an amber color, medium sweetness and strong balsamic properties, not a surprise the latter knowing the plant from whose nectar this honey derives.
Characteristics of thyme honey
Thyme honey has an amber color that over time can tend to become darker when crystallization arrives instead it becomes beige-hazelnut, not unlike many other types of honey. Crystallization which however arrives quite slowly, which indicates a strong presence of fructose, remember that honey is essentially a mixture of sugars, mainly fructose and glucose, the responsible for crystallization is the latter, therefore the more fructose there is the slower the honey will crystallize. As for its uses in the kitchen, thyme honey has a medium sweetness and a strong aroma, the flavor is persistent and leaves a balsamic aftertaste in the mouth, if you have tried eucalyptus honey we can add that the flavor is quite similar. It is widely used in herbal teas and hot drinks but there are also those who use it in combination with cheeses, it depends on taste, keep in mind however that the flavor is intense, so it does not delicately accompany the other flavor barely feeling, it can be appreciated precisely for the contrast and you will choose cheeses that can "hold up" to seasoned and/or spicy. For example, for the classic consumption on bread in the case of thyme honey, toasted black or wholemeal bread is recommended, precisely because we would like a bread with a more intense flavor to "hold up" to the intense flavor of this honey. Italian thyme honey comes almost exclusively from Sicily, from the Iblei Mountains area, if obtained from the nectar of the thyme variety that grows at greater heights it tends to be even more pungent.
Beneficial properties of thyme honey
Thyme is known to be an aromatic plant widely used in cooking but also appreciated for its balsamic properties, therefore thyme honey is attributed all the properties normally attributed to honey but in particular the antiseptic properties and a particular efficacy against the ailments typical of the cold season. The hot drinks mentioned above with the addition of thyme honey can be a good adjuvant to fight sore throats and colds. Obviously if the antiseptic properties are more pronounced than other types of honey, thyme honey will also be recommended for other conditions for which it is normally recommended as an antiseptic, for example those of the urinary tract.