Cotton honey is a mixture of floral honey and honeydew honey made from the nectar of the flower and also from the honeydew the honey bees find on cotton plants in Haryana. Cotton flowers are attractive to bees and offer some nectar only in its first day of blooming, when it is white or creamish (pale yellow). When the flower changes color the bees move to collect another type of nectar they find from the green-colored bracts, leaf-like flower parts on the base of the flower. They also find nectar secreted from the under-side of the leaves. Honeydew is usually found on trees, but also on cotton and some other plants like lucerne (alfalfa) and sunflower. The honeydew is a sweet liquid secreted by aphids after feeding on the plant’s sap. Honey bees like it too. The flavor of honey collected from the leaf (extra-floral) nectaries of the cotton-plant in no way differs from honey collected from flowers. It is light amber in color and tastes pleasant and buttery, yet with a definite tang. Some people say the flavor makes you think more of a hard lemonade than a fluffy cloud! The taste changes depending on the soil type and cotton variety, which influenced a lot the nectar yield. It has a faintly spicy aftertaste. After eating it one should notice a slight tingle at the back of the throat – like a very mild chilli. Cotton honey has a high antibacterial potency, like buckwheat, blueberry, heather or manuka honey. Cotton honey is an excellent table honey, and its mild taste makes it a good choice for use in cooking and baking where a subtler sweetness is desired. It pairs well with hard cheeses such as Parmesan, but also makes a perfect complement to a citrus sauce, or for a lemonade or tea. It also makes a good mead.

Note: "Organic Monkey procures pure raw honey directly from tribals and passionate beekeepers all over India. It is unadulterated, unprocessed, unblended, not microfiltered or infused with anything. Pure raw honey never stays the same. As it ages, its color, consistency and/or taste profile may change, crystallization may occur when the natural glucose settles on beneficial microparticles in the honey."