Trader Joe’s Turkish Honey Reviews

(61 customer reviews)

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61 reviews for Trader Joe’s Turkish Honey Reviews

  1. Joseph Aragon

    Really bad honey. I can’t believe this is real honey. It’s runny and taste like caramel diluted with sugar. I can’t believe TJ’s would sell something like this.

  2. Gregory Cilmi

    I may not be an expert, but I don’t think this is real honey. It has a slight molasses, or caramelized sugar flavor, and the viscosity of light corn syrup or oil. It does not thicken or become cloudy when refrigerated, which is another warning sign for me. Having been to Turkey and tasted their honey, this was definitely a disappointment.

  3. Rob Kagel

    I also have been too Turkey, and this is not what I remember at all. It tastes and looks fake.

  4. Paul Gomez

    I agree with the previous reviews… In fact, I went online to voice my displeasure with this product. I am a honey user. I use very little refined sugar, and the Turkish “honey” is more like the brand found in the little bear shaped squeeze bottle.
    Actually, I think I will return the product the next time I go to Trader Joe’s.

  5. Ray Butar

    Totally agree with you guys. It tastes like a really blond caramel sauce, and it tastes very sweet without any complexity.

  6. dlm

    I have tried many honey’s from many countries all over the world. This is in fact the worst I’ve ever tried. If I were Trader Joes I would investigate what in fact this stuff is made of. It is definitely not honey. I am bringing mine back. I am disappointed in Trader Joes. I thought they would have done their due diligence on this product before putting their name on the label.

  7. Brian

    My first impression was similar to others’–tastes like caramelized sugar syrup, e.g. Lyles golden syrup, if you’ve ever tasted it. Texture is also off. The only thing I’ve been able to hide it in is hot tea. I suspect this may be relabeled Chinese adulterated honey.

    Also, the package label is wrong–bees don’t forage from pines; pines are wind-pollinated.

  8. Danny

    Hopefully, this info will shed some light to the commenters above.

    Pine honey is a type of honeydew honey. It is produced by honey bees that collect honeydew (sugary secretions) from a scale insect species, Marchalina hellenica, which lives on the sap of certain pine trees. When the scale insects feed, they excrete waste in the form of honeydew. Depending on local honey production laws, the product is sometimes not allowed to be classified as honey.

  9. Beth

    I actually enjoyed the flavor of this honey. However, it caused serious digestive distress so I started to research whether it was true honey and found this: http://www.truesourcehoney.com/newsroom/2014-11-25-press-release.pdf
    It seems likely this is in fact not pure honey.

  10. Richard

    This honey is amazing. And as to the reviewers being experts on honey and not knowing about coniferous honey from pines/firs/tannenbaums, that totally exposes them as frauds. This is one of the best honeys I’ve ever encountered. Loved it!

  11. Berkan S

    I am originally from Turkey, and lived there for 28 years. I consider myself an addict of honey. I love tasting different types of honey all the time. I think this honey is fake. I hope Trader Joe finds out what the source of this honey really is.

  12. Betsy

    This honey also gave me digestive issues. I think it might contain gluten or something else that would cause me digestive upset. I stopped using it and the issues resolved. I am throwing the rest of it out.

  13. Ed Bolder

    This likely is not real honey. The likely source of this syrup is China or other Asian countries.

    http://www.truesourcehoney.com/newsroom/2014-11-25-press-release.pdf

    Trader Joes should voluntarily recall these items, offer a refund, and provide compensation to avoid any further liability it may already be in the process of incurring. SMH

  14. M Tice

    I told a Turkish friend of mine in Turkey about this product. He warned me that it is probably fake and suggested I research it. I found this page, and yep I agree – it’s probably fake. It tasted OK, but as a honey lover, I felt it tasted different than most honeys I have consumed.

  15. Paylyn H

    I bought this honey a few months ago, and didn’t use it again after the first tasting, which made me wonder what was in this “honey.” I pushed it to the back of the cupboard. A few weeks later I ran out of my favorite TJ’s creamed honey, so in desperation, I gave the “Turkish honey” another try. The flavor and consistency are so odd that I decided to see what I could find out about it online, and I now see that I’m not alone in thinking this product may not be authentic Turkish honey. And after checking out the link so kindly provided in Ed Bolder’s review above, I tossed out the almost full bottle. From now on, I’ll stick to my reliably authentic tasting (and smelling) creamed honey.

  16. CDT

    I personally loved this honey and found this page using Google to find more. This stuff is the real deal. How do I Know? I found a piece of pine in mine. Otherwise the reviews are really throwing me off.

  17. sff

    Finding a piece of pine in it does not prove authenticity.

    I like the caramelized flavor, but I don’t believe it’s honey, and it’s not the product I wished to buy. In The Honey Trail, Grace Pundyk provides a good eye-opening account of the global honey market, and how most grocery store honey isn’t “real” honey at all, but honey mixed with corn syrup–or made by bees who are fed corn syrup. Since I want actual honey, and not corn syrup flavored mystery spread, I’ll be tossing my bottle and finding the real deal.

  18. Becky

    It’s runny and doesn’t taste like honey. I’m returning it.

  19. Becky

    Scroll down and see about honey imported from Turkey:
    http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia/importalert_108.html

    I’ll only buy honey certified from the USA now.

  20. Brad Lamm

    Called TJ’s after getting a headache from this bright yellow, very runny, awful fake whatever it is. NOT HONEY. Called them on the phone too, and received a call back but the lady wouldn’t budge on this food fraud item.

  21. Kristine

    This honey is terrible. It tasted so bad that my 8 year old even commented that she thought is was “yucky”. There is NOTHING you can put it in that will give it the slight taste of honey. Don’t waste your money.

  22. Antaria

    First time I tasted this honey and I thought it was fake. I tasted it today after a long while and I still think there is something wrong with it so much that I actually made a point to find out about it on internet, which I usually don’t do. I wouldn’t give it 1 star. It was waste of money.

    Was anyone able to return it?

  23. Vlad

    Just awful! I wish I could return it and warn others…

  24. Koko

    Yes, TJ’s needs to step up and pull this item off the shelf asap. It’s really bad for their public image – I’ve been shopping there for years, and I’m no longer confident I trust their brand.
    This stuff doesn’t look, smell of taste even remotely like honey. I did think the color was odd when I saw it on the shelf, orange-y yellow as opposed to gold, but honey *does* come in a range of colors, and I thought maybe this was just one of the odder tints. I put some on toast this morning and was struck by how runny the brilliant yellow stuff is. The I took a bite, and realized it tastes NOTHING like honey. Weird, kind of bland, with a strange vanilla aftertaste. I can’t believe that any TJ manager who tasted this stuff would stock it, not simply because it’s a weird honey substitute that doesn’t taste very good, but because once you taste it and know it’s not honey… what is it? Because your customers are now eating some mystery goop with the Trader Joe’s name on it.

  25. Nick

    I thought it tasted good! Not to sweet I’m not an expert! But I would buy it again:-)

  26. Amber

    Disappointed, sounded so good, but then found when I would add this to cereal and milk it turned the milk orange – like food coloring! Also doesn’t form a single bubble like real honey should & just tastes off closer to agave syrup than honey. I don’t feel I should be paying this much for an colored syrup product Not sure what this product is – kinda scary.

  27. Sandra Javera

    This really does not taste like real honey, I hope Treder Joes will recall these items and refound their customers. I am very disappointed!

  28. Andrew

    This tastes awful. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was diluted with corn syrup or something.

  29. Tara

    Gross!

  30. bear

    I think most of the reviews on the page are all from 1 single disruptive customer. I notice similarities in all of the posts, alot of which keep on in the same way. I’m no honey expert and i do agree it has a strong syrup taste but i personally like it. I think its amazing in coffee and other beverages.

    As for comments about the consistency not being like honey. … well your obviously a moron because all honeys are completely different and the majority of blind consumers purchase clover honey. Myself. . I buy orange blossom honey to use for most stuff and its much darker, richer and i have never had it crystallize. My favorite honey in the world is authentic Northen Florida Tupelo Honey. Its out of this world and most people might think its fake… why? Tupleo honey has a strangely high sugar content, it never ever crystallizes and it just tastes so much better than any other honey. My point here is the general population doesn’t know much about honey and just because u had honey in turkey, doesnt mean it was locally sourced. Just because u have had many ?5, 10? Types of the hundreds of thousands of different honeys accross the country, doesnt make you an expert. Also, just because 1 customer whos reviews look nearly identical to me, keeps returning to this web page to make false reports as other named consumers….. doesnt make this a bad product. TRADERN ZED F A

  31. a new customer or… Bear?

    Hrmmm i was able to post again? Wow amazing.

    I had dropped my phone and my last words were messed up and it sent. I wanted to say: Trader Joes is a reputable company who goes to premium labels and has them re-label their products with a tradejoe label. I know this for certain amd i know its not worth Tjs time to pull the wool over anyones eyes.

    Anyways, i can tell u as a life long tjs customer that if ur displeased with any of their products you can return them with and sometimes without a receipt, for a full cash refund, no questions asked.

    Trust me. Thats another reason why i know someone is spamming complaints here

  32. another new customer or… Bear?

    Lol

    So i went back through the posts and the 2nd-5th posts are all the same person who uses a first and last name…. who uses a first and last name to post a review??? Come on… not very common on the internet, but you have 4 people all doing it in a row. Then you scroll down and the the complaints that appear in line with these others and are certain (in my eyes) to be from one person. Have last names shorten, then the author becomes even lazier and just starts punching in random letters for a name. Crazy. … dont let this post discouraged you from buy turkish honey from TJs. I think its bomb and i enjoy it alot. Im not an expert but i am in the beveragw industry and have a damn good eye for flavor and other fine consumer products.

    Cheers,

    Bear

  33. fisherwomen

    The reviews have me concerned but let me say this:
    I’ve just returned from a trip to Italy. The honey there is different tasting than the honey in the US. It was not so super thick and is darker and my god, the taste was AMAZING. I have been unable to find a taste like that since back home. Until Trader Joe’s Turkish honey. I can’t get over the taste. I really like it, but now this page has made me concerned. I wish someone would do an analysis and set this matter to rest. *sigh*

    For those of you interested, the ultimate honey site: http://www.honeytraveler.com/

  34. Anna

    I love this honey and decided to read online reviews. Thanks Bear for setting things straight. Clearly the negatives aren’t familiar with TJ’s return policy so it does bring into question their reviews.

    TJ’s is very gracious when I’ve returned something I did not like so they really should take it back.

    This honey has a delightful taste…..can’t really explain it better than that. So try it and if you don’t like it TAKE IT BACK.

  35. kdk

    Haven’t tried it but after reading 35 posts…35 !…WTF? ..now I feel that I MUST try it to see what all the fuss is about. So until I do I’m going all Swiss neutral and giving it 3 stars. Wish me luck

  36. RGR

    I’ve been wondering about this molasses-like syrupy compound ever since I brought a jar back from California this summer. I live in Japan so I can’t return it, but I decided to toss it in the round-hole and cut my losses. TJs should not foist this on paying customers as “honey.” IF by some unexpected chance it is indeed real honey, TJs should affix a label that reads: “Your Taste Buds Are Lying: This Really IS Honey.”

  37. mountain mama

    I love all types of honey and have tried many different varieties and I find this to be very unique and delicious! It does have a very interesting flavor – different from your standard, commercial honey, so I can understand why some may think its fake. I have a wonderful source of local, mountain honey from my local farmer’s market and I will attest to the fact that each year, batch, and variety is completely different and way different than that you’d normally pick up at your grocery store. This has a unique flavor profile; what you should hope to find in a quality, varietal honey. Haters – if its too complex for your palate then stick to grocery store honey and stop bashing Trader Joe’s!! For those curious…give it a try and be prepared for something different, in a very GOOD way:)

  38. Coppertop

    Couldn’t agree more. Tastes like corn syrup and I hadn’t even read these yet. Bought in Dec 2015 so I can tell you they are still selling it. However you all have inspired me to march it back there and complain.

  39. edith

    I brought TJ’s turkish honey and after one taste it was so strange i had to google it. Now i’m even more confused. Is it real pure honey or is it fake?

  40. Robert

    I found this page after trying this honey and deciding it was fake. The color was especially strange. After washing out the bottle 4 or 5 times, the water was still yellow, and even the bottle still looks yellow. It doesn’t look like a natural color to me. TJ’s purchaser should know honey well enough not to have bought it, but I guess the cheap price was just too irresistible for them. Shame on them for passing this off as honey.

  41. Laura S

    I’ve been using various types of honey all of my life, my granddaddy had bees. I live in western North Carolina where lots of people have honey bees, I’ve had honey from all over the The eastern United States, granted never before from Turkey. But I know what molasses smells like, and I smell molasses in this Trader Joe’s Turkish honey. I know the viscosity is all wrong, it’s too thin, the color is wrong, bright orange. It’s sweet, but not the right “kind” of sweet, this is not pure honey. There may be some honey in it, but I believe it is mostly corn syrup and molasses. Maybe some kind of artificial coloring. Possibly the color comes from turmeric. Although I don’t smell turmeric in it. I am returning this bottle to Trader Joe’s, and will continue to buy local mountain honey. And whoever “Bear” is, you can’t spell, you call people morons, you’re attacking, and you come across as being uneducated and uninformed. Maybe you’re the one posting all of the positive reviews.??

  42. Newbie

    I actually LOVE the taste of this honey. I’ll have it in warm water and it taste like I’m drinking tea. I use it in my smoothies as well. Not sure why so many people had such a negative experience but I actually enjoyed it!

  43. Nobody

    I’m no expert but I have tended bees and processed their honey. It tastes, feels, looks, and smells like there are more ingredients in here than they are telling us.

  44. Yoyo

    This honey is really good. I am from Turkey and I find the flavor of this honey to be mostly from pine trees which most of the consumers here might not be familiar with. I don’t think it is fake, it’s just that people aren’t used to something that tastes different than their honey bears??

  45. Susan Graney

    I called TJ’s because I was shocked at how bad this Turkish Honey is. I grew up in England and we have a product called Lyle’s Golden Syrup which we use for baking, but it’s a by-product of sugar refinement, NOT honey, and this Turkish Honey at TJ’s tastes like that. It even pours like corn syrup – this honey has NEVER seen a bee! The customer relations department in CA reiterated that it is lab tested, etc. etc., but I told her that my bottle is definitely not honey. I’ve tasted both Greek and Turkish honey, and this stuff is not the real deal. Too bad for TJ’s. This kind of trickery could backfire. Customer relations was not that friendly, but I had not realized how many people had complained until after I put the phone down and looked online. I will return this product. C’mon TJ’s – don’t treat us like fools!

  46. Andrea

    Grateful for all these helpful, informed reviews, thanks, guys! Returning this honey ASAP. Sadly I’m finding lots of fakery and suspect ingredients (cough, Carrageenan) in TJ’s products of late, seems like someone in quality control is asleep at the switch? This tastes overly sweet and cloying, recalling the Lyle’s Golden Syrup of my childhood.

  47. Thomas Rose

    I am a honey lover .life long i tried trader joes turkish honey it aint real honey i dont know what T J put in that jar but after reading label and tasting. I felt like vomiting. I dumped it down the drain
    I buy my honey from local honey makers .it is raw and has all the pollen. From now on anything from T J is suspect to me the honey was a gift i would not have brought it myself buyer beware.

  48. Anonymous

    Just bought it and tried. I thought it tasted interesting, made my water VERY YELLOW. I really thought it tasted delicious, BUT it also tastes like caramelyzed, heated sugar. How can I NOT suspect as a fake? This is how I found the reviews. 🙁

  49. Josie

    Hi,

    REading everyone’s comments was interesting. I too am very suspicious of this honey. Thus, I decided to look up YouTube videos that showed how to test if honey is real. I did about 5 tests*, and this honey tested. I still feel leary about it.

    I currently have it in my hair as a treatment. Last time I used honey in my hair, it was from a local farmer. I found the feel of it to be much stickier and very soothing on my scalp. With this bottle, by scalp itched (weird, right?).

    If this honey makes my hair soft, smooth, and shiny, which my last hair treatment with local honey did, then I’ll know it’s the real deal. I’ll try to post an update.

    Results of tests performed: kept its form when poured into liquid, maintained foam when shaken in water, lit on fire, didn’t spread when poured over my thumb nail, drizzled well instead of drip (but I would say that my local honey was much more viscous.)

  50. Joansie

    Best honey this side of heaven. We go through two bottles a week. I buy six bottles at a time at least. I hope TJ continues to sell Turkish honey. For those who don’t like it, don’t buy it. More for me…

  51. Lo

    I also had severe digestive issues after consuming this honey. Glad to hear I am not the only one! I enjoyed the taste but it is not worth the agony.

  52. salim

    why you guys thinking too much? To make it “distinct” and to save from the cost, whoever the producer is, mixed it with molasses. It is molasses my friend. They mixed it so to make it cheaper.

  53. Tsfe

    I am not an expert but the honey tastes fine to me. If it is molasses it is still cheaper than the fake honey in grocery stores which is made from feeding bees processed sugar water, which local beekeepers do (I know several who sell honey and they don’t disclose that on their labels). They say the sugar water is “just in case”, but whatever. It cant be healthy for the bees in my opinion, and then folks wonder why their bees are more susceptible to disease.

    I live in Georgia and when the pine trees pollinate, everything gets covered in a fine yellow dust and it can takes weeks to clean it all. It gets everywhere and turns things yellow (It doesnt seem to stain though). But it is just pure pollen, not pollen processed by insects. It does resemble a light turmeric color, or powdered mustard, now that one person mentions it. I wonder if that explains the color somewhat.

  54. Roger

    I LOVE THIS HONEY !!!!!!!!!!

  55. Nana B.

    Incredibly tasty, really unique flavor. Can’t understand the complaints. I love it mixed with their plain Greek yogurt, or slightly boiled down as a sauce for their frozen cheese blintzes. A lot of T Joe’s products are hit-or-miss for me. This one is a hit! Wish it wasn’t just seasonal.

  56. Vanessa N Harrison

    I LOVE this PRODUCT, and I am PISSED that it’s gone!!! It tasted better than anything I have ever had before!!! BRING IT BACK!!!

  57. Patricia

    Loved the taste of this Turkish Honey. I would but it again and again. If it turns out to not be real honey. that’s ok. Jack in the Box tacos are not real beef tacos. but I like them too.

  58. James

    I buy honey from all over the world, keeping 60 or more types on hand at all times. Each honey has its own consistency, and depending on pollen source, year, and weather conditions, has a unique flavor, very much like wine and even maple syrup.These are organic products. I thought the Trader Joe’s Turkish Honey had an intriguing, but delightful flavor, detecting a hint of dates and pine in the flavor. I enjoy honey from arid areas, like our Southwestern US and honeys from those areas also have their own unique flavors. This honey from Turkey has a unique flavor, for me so much the better. There are honeys I don’t particularly care for, so I don’t buy them. I don’t find it necessary to impugn the reputation of the company, I just spend my dollars Elsewhere. I was sorry to see that TJ is no longer carrying this honey. They now have a multi floral honey from Argentina, and I suspect, if the past is prologue, to see a lengthy critique of that honey.

  59. AS

    Good tasting honey from Turkey…loved it.

  60. LJ in Kitsap County

    I will miss this wonderful and complex honey. I ran out today and found out it has been discontinued. Luckily I noticed there is another TJ honey with honey comb and it turns out it is from Turkey as well. It also comes packaged in a glass jar, which I prefer over plastic. We’ll see how it compares. We tried Glory Bee to support their mission, but it’s bland in comparison.

  61. AJ Bertine

    I’m devastated that they discontinued this. That flavor that so many ignorant barbarians decided was molasses was the rock rose, Cistus ladaniferus. I am a perfumer and Cistus spp. is one of my favorite plant oils, and I have *never* found honey that was based on rock rose before. I could taste it, and I LOVED it, and I have a bad feeling that TJ’s has stopped carrying it because the majority of their shoppers are classless idiots with the taste buds of a 2 year old. Thanks, ya buncha Karens.

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