Borage or Viper's Bugloss Honey

The Story

Characteristics

Slow to crystallize due to high fructose content. May last years if properly stored.

Click to Display — The Details: botanical origin, sensory profile, pairings, health and what gives it its character

Botanical Name: Echium vulgare, Borage Family (Boraginaceae)

Color:

Yellow gold

Flavor Profile:

Light clean taste, a floral bouquet and lemon characteristics..

Pairings:

Viper’s Bugloss honey is a yellow gold color with a light clean taste, a floral bouquet and lemon characteristics.
It is delicious in tea or coffee and compliments a strong cheese such as blue or Roquefort. Interestingly, in honey tastings it is often among the favorites by men, although also enjoyed by women.

Health Uses:

Health Consideration: Should not be eaten daily for extended periods. Viper’s Bugloss contains Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids (PA) which, in isolation, can cause liver damage or cancer in large doses. Zero-exposure Echium species have PA concentrations up to ten times higher and should be avoided. Apimondia Presentation. As of 2010, no specific standards have been created for PA-containing honey consumption, and New Zealand Food Safety found no appreciable risk to NZ consumers based on typical dietary exposure. NZ Food Safety Risk Management Framework.

Cultural Context

AKA: Blue Bottle, Blue Weed, Wild Borage, Bugloss, Viper’s Bugloss, Cat’s-tail, Blue Cat’s-tail, Viper’s Grass, Iron-weed, Langdebeef, Our Lord’s Flannel or Our Saviour’s Flannel, Snake Flower, Snake’s Bugloss, Viper’s Herb, Blue Thistle, Blue Devil, pa’ qué te quiero mañosa (Spanish — “why do you want to touch” — a reference to its thorns)

Vipers Bugloss Seeds
Vipers Bugloss Seeds

The name Viper’s Bugloss came about from a perceived resemblance between the seeds and a viper’s head, or the spots on the stem like a viper’s skin. It was thought to be a useful antidote to snakebite based on the fanciful logic of 14th century herbalist’s Doctrine of Signatures that states that the appearance of a plant indicates its use to humanity. In his 1656 The Art of Simpling, herbalist William Coles described the plant: “its stalks all to be speckled like a snake or viper, and is a most singular remedy against poison and the sting of scorpions.” The Latin name Echium originates ultimately from the Greek echis for viper, while bugloss is derived from the Greek for Ox Tongue — a reference to the shape and roughness of the leaves.

Harvest & Forage

Viper’s Bugloss is a wild plant that enjoys dry meadows and fields, waste places and roadsides. It grows tall and its beautiful blue wildflowers – rarely white or pink – flower from late spring to mid-summer.

A member of the Borage family, it is native to southern Europe but is found in most countries from United States to New Zealand. It is often one of the many blossoms contributing to multifloral honeys from around the world, but in single flower honeys where it accounts for at least 45% of the content, New Zealand is the primary source. Mainly from the Southern island where it grows wild in the dry mountain valleys and mountain sides during the summer months. This pure environment is ideal because of the low risk of pesticide and chemical contamination.

Viper’s Bugloss (Echium vulgare)
Viper’s Bugloss (Echium vulgare) in bloom

Source Regions

New Zealand
Italy (Sicily, Sardinia)
Mediterranean (Italy, Morocco, Spain, Turkey)
South America (Chile)

Translations

Italian: Miele di Erba Viperina
German: Gewohnlicher Natternkopf honig
French: Le miel de viperine
Spanish: Miel de Bugloss de la vibora