She’s the bee’s knees! Carol from Ackergill takes gold at prestigious Honey Madness Cup in Krakow
Carol Gunn of Ackergill is buzzing with excitement after winning a gold medal for multifloral honey at the Honey Madness Cup in Poland on March 1.
This year there were 135 honeys from 11 counties entered into 3 sections – monofloral, multifloral and honeydew. Of the 135 honeys entered, 28 were awarded medals.
Carol, from Olrig and District Beekeepers’ Association in Caithness, was presented with the only gold medal in the multifloral section at a gala dinner in Krakow on Saturday, March 1.
She said: “I am absolutely delighted to have won a gold medal as part of the Honey Madness Cup. We all know how good Scottish honey is and to be awarded this accolade against international competition is fantastic, especially as it is awarded solely on taste.
“The honey was from a colony I put to the Bell Heather in Dunbeath last July. I don’t actually know what the floral sources were, the honey was a golden colour. The pollen coming in was the colour that I would have expected from Bell, another colour coming in looked like Scabious. These are both guesses based only on colour and what was in bloom at the time – I haven’t done a microscopic analysis on it yet.
“It set fairly quickly in the bucket and is light in colour with a smooth buttery texture and beautiful floral notes.”
In 2024 the competition was extended to include honey from beekeepers and apiary owners who produce honey themselves; cooperatives and corporations producing honey are excluded.
Honeys are judged on organoleptic qualities and do not compete with other honeys. Honey Madness Cup judges are honey sommeliers affiliated with the Italian organization Alba del Miel.
To win a medal, the honey should be rated at the desired level. On a scale of 100 points, the minimum needed to win a bronze medal is 65 points. Silver will be awarded to any honey that scores between 80.5 and 95 points. Gold medals are reserved for the best honeys that score above 95.5 points.
At the gala dinner, one of the judges came over and told Carol how much they had enjoyed her honey. “She said the ‘mouthfeel’ was exceptional and the floral notes really came through. She said that it had been a unanimous decision among all six judges that the honey should be awarded the gold.
“You don’t know if you have been successful until the gala dinner. Krakow is a great place to visit and I made a wee break of it with a couple of friends. The icing on the cake was picking up the gold medal.”
The European Mead Makers Association, Mead Madness Cup is the largest home and commercial mead competition in Europe and has been running continuously since 2018.
Carol also won a cup a few months ago at her first visit to the UK National Honey Show for the best Ling Heather Section.
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