As a lifestyle enhancement journalist and blogger, I receive products to sample, review and write about. Some are fantastic, others don’t make the cut to share with my readers.

When Peter Berk sent a box from New Zealand importer Pacific Resources International (PRI), I was intrigued, especially when I saw a bottle of Australian Leatherwood Honey. Suffering from Spring pollen allergies, I’ve been told that certain honey can help with hay fever.  What makes this honey unique is that it is from trees in Australia’s island state, Tasmania. This honey gets its name from the leathery textured leaves of the Leatherwood Eucryphia Lucida.

Leatherwood trees are unique to the rainforest regions on the west cost of the island. When a tree is less than 75 years old, it generally doesn’t flower, so there is no nectar source. The most prolific flowering trees that are a nectar source are more than 100 or 200 years old.

It’s a mono-floral honey, that is not blended with other floral honey and offers a pleasing floral bouquet. It offers a creamy and smooth texture with an essence of floral perfumes of the Leatherwood blossoms. It’s balance of sweetness is robust, yet pleasing to the palate.

Here are 10 Things I Learned About the Benefits of Honey

1.Honey is healing – Dab a little on top of a wound to treat and help heal minor wounds and burns. Honey is a natural health product that has been known to protect cells against damage caused by bacteria. It’s been known to stimulates cell production to repair tissue damaged by infection.

2.  It’s known to reduce high cholesterol, along with a healthy diet of fruit and vegetables. Honey is high in minerals such as potassium, calcium and sodium and B complex vitamins. It’s known as a cholesterol fighter by lowering cholesterol in the blood. The antioxidants in honey prevent cholesterol from being moved out of the blood and into the lining of the blood vessels. Daily consumption of this natural sweetener could raise blood levels of protective antioxidant compounds in the body.

3. Honey has an anti-inflammatory properties that can quickly reduce pain and inflammation.

4. Not all honey is alike. Some kinds of honey may be 100 times more potent than others.

5.  Tasmanian honey has also been used as a cure a hang over. Pour some in with a morning hot tea. It’s naturally rich in vitamin B and minerals that aids in recovering from the excessive alcohol quickly.

6. Color and Flavor – Generally, a light-colored honey is milder in taste and a dark-colored honey is stronger in flavor.

7.  Sugar vs. Honey – Table sugar has a sweet taste, honey enhances a flavor and offers beneficial properties.

8. Each jar of honey has a unique aroma, flavor and color that is determined by the floral source: Leatherwood, clover, basswood, orange blossom or buckwheat, from which the bee collects the nectar.

9. Tasting Honey – When tasting honey, it’s similar to tasting wine: Before tasting, take a sniff of the honey aroma in the jar. Take a taste and let the front of your tongue each the initial flavor, smack your lips to sort out a full range of flavor. Let the flavors flow to the back and sides of your palate. Enjoy the lingering aftertaste.

10. New Zealand Manuka honey is known to be the most potent honey.

PRI is the first importer to bring authentic New Zealand Manuka Honey to the States almost 30 years ago. They have been sourcing Manuka Honey directly from New Zealand bee keepers since 1989, to offer an array of culinary and healing-based Manuka Honey products, including the company’s popular Dark Chocolate Manuka Honey line and brand Manuka Honey Salted Caramels.

Also in my box were Gourmet Flaky Sea Salt. This Marlborough Flaky Sea Salt is  harvested from the pristine southern seas of New Zealand and is Bio-Gro Certified by Bio-Gro New Zealand for organic purity. It’s prized for its sweet flavor and brings out the best natural flavors in salads to seafood. There was also a shaker of Mesquite BBQ salt that was drying for 13-22 months before the salt was combined with the secret Louisiana family smoked Mesquite. This adds pizzazz to Cajun and BBQ dishes. It’s also quite good on a salad or scrambled eggs.

To learn about PRI products – go to – http://www.shoppri.com for a wide array of new snacks, sea salts and Manuka Honey products.

About Pacific Resources International
A Southern California-based Pacific Resources International is an exclusive importer of both high quality Pacific Sea Salt and an extensive range of Manuka Honeys and other products from New Zealand. PRI sources directly from the primary producers to avoid unnecessary processing and to ensure the highest quality ingredients.