Jessica Locarnini puts her nose into a wine glass and takes a big sniff. “I’m getting bold, black espresso and balsamic notes,” she says. Then, instead of lifting the glass to her lips for a sip, she picks up a spoon and dips it in. This sommelier is not tasting wine at all. She smears honey around the glass, assessing the texture and colour, before having a taste. “A wine glass is the perfect shape to capture the aromas, and a ceramic spoon is better than metal or wood because the flavours are so delicate,” says Australia’s only honey sommelier.
A backyard beekeeper since 2005, Locarnini’s honey hobby has turned into a serious part-time hustle, fitted in between work as a marketer for a big-four bank. She’s studied with honey experts in the US and Italy and, after a stressful exam in Bologna last year, became the most highly qualified honey communicator in Australia.
Jessica Locarnini is a backyard beekeeper turned honey sommelier.Credit: Simon Schluter
“I work with apiaries to create honey-tasting notes for customers or distributors,” she says. “I run masterclasses, I judge competitions. I educate anyone from chefs to everyday foodies, anyone who is curious to learn more about tasting and celebrating Australian honey.”
When she first asks people to describe honey, they usually throw back words like “caramel” and “sweet”. But as the connection between their brains and palates is opened, they come up with much more. Curry leaves and cardamom. Fairy floss and fruit. “Sometimes you get ‘wet dog’ or ‘cat pee’: there’s no real way of making that sound nice,” says Locarnini. “I had a kid tell me one honey tasted like sucking an old teabag. He was right.”
Her aims go beyond helping Aussies boost their porridge game. “One in every three bites of food is the result of pollination by a bee,” she says. “We should thank them and value the honey they work hard to produce.” A bee will make less than a teaspoon of honey in her life, which usually lasts around five to seven weeks. “I want to create a link between the quality of our produce, the uniqueness of Australian honeys and the celebration of honey beyond just using it as a sweetener.”
Loading
That’s especially relevant now that the destructive Varroa mite is in Australia. “They are revolting,” Locarnini says. “They latch onto honeybees and larvae to feed off them, weakening them and spreading disease. It’s heartbreaking to watch a colony die off, leaving behind an empty comb where there was once buzzing life.” Internationally, many bee communities expect 30 per cent of their colonies to be destroyed each year. “Local beekeepers are strapping themselves in.”
Is a honey sommelier allowed to have a favourite honey? “It’s contextual,” she says. “One of the weirdest and best tastings I’ve ever had was with friends in Tasmania, pairing leatherwood honey with chicken Twisties. It actually worked.”