Event Date
With so many varieties of honey to choose from, just how do you know each should taste?
This introductory course uses sensory evaluation tools and methods to educate participants in the nuances of varietal honey. Students will learn about methods of evaluation, stands and quality in this certificate program.
This evaluation course is for anyone interested in learning how to critically taste and assess honey. Using standard sensory techniques, packers, chefs, beekeepers, writers, food manufacturers, honey aficionados will learn about the nuances of varietal honey. Attendees will receive a UC Davis Honey Flavor Wheel and our newly published Honey Journal in addition to access to all presentations.
Sensory Evaluation of Honey Certificate Course
Date: November 7-9, 2019
Fee: $799
Register here
Tentative Agenda
Thursday, November 7
8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Registration and Breakfast
9:00 a.m. Welcome, Introduction and Overview
Amina Harris; Director, Honey and Pollination Center, Robert Mondavi Institute, UC Davis
9:15 – 10:00 a.m. What is Honey: An Introduction and Keeping a Honey Journal
Amina Harris
10:00 -11:00 a.m. Introduction to Sensory Evaluation
Hildegarde Heymann, Ray Rossi Endowed Chair in Viticulture and Enology, UC Davis
11:00 -11:15 a.m. BREAK
11:15 - Noon p.m. Descriptive Analysis/Methodology
Amina Harris
Orietta Gianjorio; Owner of Orietta, LLC:
Noon – 1:15 p.m. LUNCH
1:15 – 3:00 p.m. Mono-Varietal Honeys
Amina Harris and Orietta Gianjorio
3:00 – 3:15 p.m. Break (Optional Honey Tasting)
3:15 – 4:15 p.m. Bees and Bee Products: An Allergist’s View
Suzanne Teuber, MD; Professor of Medicine, Training Program Director, Allergy and Immunology Fellowship, UC Davis School of Medicine
4:15 – 4:45 p.m. TRIANGLE TESTING: A Method to sharpen your tasting skills
Hanne Sivertsen, Amina Harris, Orietta Gianjorio
Dinner on Your Own
FRIDAY, November 9, 2019
8:15 – 8:45 a.m. Continental Breakfast
8:45 a.m. Optional Honey Tasting
9:15 – 11:15 a.m. Honey Research Overview:
Sensory (Hanne K. Silversten, Consultant, Sivertsen Consulting, Sensory Science)
Pollen Analysis (Irina Delusina, Project Scientist, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, UC Davis)
Honey Analysis: Volatile and Chemical Markers of Monofloral Honey (Katie Uhl, Graduate Student Researcher, Department of Food Science and Technology, UC Davis)
11:15 – 11:30 a.m. Break
11:30 - 12:15 p.m. UC Davis Bee Research Update
Elina Niño, Extension Apiculturist, Entomology and Nematology, UC Davis
12:15 – 1:30 p.m. Lunch
1:30 – 2:00 p.m. How Different Sugars affect the Flavor and Sweetness of Honey
Amina Harris
2:00 – 2:45 p.m. Crystallization
Orietta Gianjorio
2:45 – 3:00 p.m. Break (Cheese and honey infusions tasting)
3:00 – 3:45 p.m. Defects: Natural and Not So Natural
Amina Harris, and Orietta Gianjorio
3:45 - 4:45 p.m. Honey Adulteration
Joyce Schlachter, Director of Food Safety and Quality, Crockett Honey, Tempe Arizona
4:45 – 5:15 p.m. How Well Have You Done?
Amina Harris, Hanne Sivertsen and Orietta Gianjorio
Saturday, November 9
8:30 – 9:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
8:45 a.m. Optional Honey tasting
9:00 - 9:45 a.m. Review of Friday’s Program
Amina Harris
Honey Tasting: Now that we have learned how to taste, how do our perceptions change
9:45 – 10:45 a.m. Nutrition Health and Analysis of Honey
Amy Myrdal Miller, nutritionist and owner of Farmer’s Daughter Consulting, Sacramento, CA
10:45 -11:00 a.m. BREAK
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Honey in the Kitchen
Mani Niall; owner of Sweet Bar Bakery, Oakland, CA and author of ‘Covered in Honey’
12:30 – 1:45 p.m. Lunch
1:45 -3:00 p.m. Closing Test
Meet Our Presenters
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Amina Harris, Director, Honey and Polination Center, Robert Mondavi Institute, UC Davis Amina Harris has been in the honey business for approximately 40 years. In addition to being the director of the Center, she is also one of the owners of Z Specialty Food with her son. |
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Amy Myrdal Miller, Nutritionist and Owner of Farmer’s Daughter Consulting, Sacramento, CA Amy Myrdal Miller, MS, RDN, FAND, is an award-winning dietitian, farmer’s daughter, public speaker, author, and president of Farmer’s Daughter® Consulting, Inc., an agriculture, food, and culinary communications firm. |
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Elina Niño, Extension Apiculturist, Entomology and Nematology, UC Davis Dr. Niño researches the reproductive processes involved in queen bee mating. As Extension Apiculturist, Niño is overseeing the recently funded Master Beekeeping Certification Program at UC Davis. |
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Hanne Sivertsen, Consultant, Sivertsen Consulting, Sensory Science Hanne Sivertsen has more than 20 years of experience in the field of sensory science. She has worked on various research projects at UC Davis, including sensory research for wine, fruit, and chocolate. |
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Hildegarde Heymann, Distinguished Professor of Sensory Science, Dr. Heymann is an nationally recognized award-winning sensory scientist who has presented short-courses and workshops all over the world. She has worked in all areas of sensory science and evaluated numerous food and non-food products. |
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Irina Delusina, Project Scientist, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, UC Davis Irina Delusina is a palynologist in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UC Davis. One of her interests is melissopalynology, the study of pollen contained in honey. |
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Joyce Schlachter, Director of Food Safety and Quality, Crockett Honey, Tempe Arizona Joyce Schlachter has been employed in the honey business for 12 years, auditing honey processing facilities in foreign countries. She has worked with US authorities, including Customs and Border Patrol in identifying fraudulent honey shippers. |
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Katie Uhl, Graduate Student Researcher, Department of Food Science and Technology, UC Davis Katie Uhl works in Dr. Alyson Mitchell's lab in collaboration with the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center to develop a method for characterizing mono-floral honey varieties by their volatile profiles. |
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Chef Mani Niall, Mani's Test Kitchen "Baker of the Stars" Mani Niall is a professional baker and the author of two cookbooks, Sweet & Natural Baking and Covered in Honey. Mani has traveled the US and Japan doing varietal honey cooking demos for culinary students for the National Honey Board |
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Orietta Gianjorio, Member of the Italian Register of Experts in the Sensory Analysis of Honey Orietta Gianjorio is a professional taster, sommelier, and international judge for wine, olive oil, chocolate and honey. She started her career in sensory evaluation 18 years ago at the Italian Sommelier Association. |
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Suzanne Teuber, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Training Program Director, Allergy and Immunology Fellowship Program, UC Davis School of Medicine. Suzanne Teuber specializes in allergy and clinical immunology with a particular interest in food allergies and anaphylaxis. |
Thanks to our sponsors
Interested in Sponsoring This Event?
Your contribution will help us help develop quality standards for honey, affect improved honey labeling laws, and enable the continuation of honey sensory research. Sponsors at the Bronze level and above receive complimentary admission to the Sensory Evaluation of Honey Certificate Course.