Honey & Vinegar by Fruchtwerker. Honey vinegar with 40 percent honey from Yucatán – sweetened solely by honey.
Honey & Vinegar by Fruchtwerker is a honey vinegar from Talkau in Schleswig-Holstein: 40 percent Mexican honey from the Yucatán province, spirit vinegar and wine vinegar, 3.5 percent acidity – that is the entire ingredient list. No added sugar, no added flavoring, no fruit. 250 ml, mild and rounded – a vinegar made from honey instead of fruit, and due to the honey, unsuitable for vegans.
Honey vinegar is the variety that stands out from the rest: it is the only bottle from Fruchtwerker that consists solely of honey and vinegar. The sweetness comes entirely from the honey, which makes up 40 percent of the bottle. The result is a vinegar that tastes less of fruit and more of warmth – honey, wax, a hint of caramel, followed by acidity. In the kitchen, this is the variety for mustard dressings, glazes, and for anyone who finds berries too fruity.
Like honey with acidity rather than vinegar with sweetness
The honey vinegar smells of honey, unmistakable and warm. On the palate, the sweetness comes first, soft and rounded, then the acidity of the vinegar, which catches the honey and prevents it from being sticky. The finish is long and slightly waxy, just the way a bold honey lingers. It is golden yellow to amber, clear, with a syrupy consistency.
The honey comes from Yucatán, Mexico – a tropical honey with its own character, bolder than local blossom honey, with notes reminiscent of tropical fruits and caramel. The sugar content is 49 grams per 100 grams, which comes exclusively from the honey. Fruchtwerker completely avoids adding any sugar here.
Two boundaries: This variety is not vegan because it contains honey – the only one in the range for which this is true. And anyone looking for the typical Fruchtwerker taste, i.e., berry or citrus, is better off choosing a different bottle. This is a variety for honey lovers, less so for fruit lovers.
Mustard dressing, goat cheese, glazed carrots
The classic use is the honey-mustard dressing, for which you otherwise need three ingredients: a tablespoon of vinegar, a teaspoon of coarse mustard, three tablespoons of rapeseed oil, salt. With this, the honey and vinegar are already combined, and the dressing turns out clump-free. It goes well with lamb's lettuce, potato salad with bacon, and salad with fried chicken.
As a partner for cheese, it is the best in the range: a few drops over baked goat cheese or Camembert, over blue cheese with walnuts, or into herb quark. In warm cooking, it glazes vegetables – sauté carrots or parsnips in a pan with a tablespoon of vinegar and butter until they shine. For roast pork or spare ribs, add a dash to the marinade; the honey caramelizes during roasting.
For dessert, it goes well with anything involving nuts: over yogurt with walnuts, in muesli, or over semolina pudding. As a drink with hot water and a slice of ginger in the winter, or cold in mineral water. Anyone wanting the mild side of Fruchtwerker with fruit should choose Apple & Vinegar or Plum & Vinegar instead.
From experience: This vinegar tolerates heat better than the fruit varieties because its honey aroma is less volatile than fruit aroma. It is therefore suitable for glazes and marinades that go into the oven.
A recipe from the Fruchtwerker kitchen: Salade à Fruits – a leafy salad with apple slices, grapes, and walnuts, served with a dressing made of one tablespoon of vinegar, three tablespoons of oil, and one teaspoon of mustard. The honey combines fruit and nut, the acidity keeps the salad fresh.
For winter: Sauté halved Brussels sprouts in a pan, deglaze with a tablespoon of vinegar, add butter until they shine. The same applies to roasted pumpkin. For dishes that require fruit – venison, duck, red cabbage – this variety is not suitable; it lacks the berry note, and the honey on its own feels too heavy.
A variety without fruit from a fruit vinegar manufacturer
Fruchtwerker specializes in fruit vinegar – whole fruits, macerated cold in vinegar. This vinegar is the exception that shows the principle also works with honey instead of fruit: a natural ingredient in high concentration and vinegar as a base, done. Instead of sugar, the honey provides the sweetness, and because it provides it so strongly, the bottle requires 40 percent of it.
The honey from Yucatán is a bold tropical honey that holds its own against the acetic acid – a mild rapeseed honey would disappear in the vinegar. The base, as with all varieties, is spirit vinegar and wine vinegar. Processing and bottling take place in Talkau, where Fruchtwerker has been working since 2008 – ever since Matthias Hüttmann adopted farmer Emma’s raspberry recipe and turned it into a manufactory producing around 300,000 bottles a year.
In the range, this vinegar is the go-to for mustard dressings and cheese – the tasks for which fruit vinegar would be too fruity. It is the only bottle in which Fruchtwerker processes honey instead of fruit, yet it is the one that comes closest to the principle: one ingredient and a vinegar, that is all.
The bottle for the cheese platter and the winter salad
This vinegar is a winter product in a summer range. It goes well with lamb's lettuce, Brussels sprouts, cheese, and everything that comes to the table during the cold season. Anyone who has only used fruit vinegar in the summer now has a reason to use it all year round with this bottle.
As a gift, it suits cheese lovers and anyone who prefers honey to jam. In a package with the apple vinegar, it forms the mild duo from Fruchtwerker – two bottles for people who find berries too colorful.
A honey vinegar made from honey from Yucatán and vinegar from Talkau, sweetened solely by honey – for goat cheese, mustard dressing, and glazed carrots.
