Santa Rosa, California – There’s typically not much innovation in the honey sector. Bees produce it, and that’s about where things usually end.
In Santa Rosa, however, one man isn’t content to stop there.
Raul Dominguez, a local entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience in the restaurant industry, launched Crazy Honey Infusions to take the classic condiment in a new direction.
Inspired by the local wine industry, Dominguez started creating honey blends with unique ingredients.
Crazy Honey Infusions makes all kinds of different honeys, but they’re best known for their bright-blue honey, made with spirulina seaweed extract.
The Smurf-colored honey looks artificial, but the blue hue is completely natural—the “dye” is produced by the largely flavorless seaweed.
I recently tried the blue honey at the Santa Rosa Farmers Market. It’s flavored with lemon and tastes delicious—Âyou’d have no idea there’s seaweed in it, if not for the color.
I also took home a jar of Dominguez’s honey that’s flavored with raspberries and sumac, giving it a slightly crunchy texture and bright, fruity flavor.
Dominguez sells his Crazy Honeys at a variety of North Bay farmers’ markets and small shops. His company operates as a Microenterprise Home Kitchen, which means he has a special license to produce the honeys at home and sell them locally.
Although they have crazy flavors and textures, the honeys are based on local wildflower honey. A small jar will set you back about $12–$13, and a big one runs around $40.
You wouldn’t necessarily want to put these honeys in tea or coffee—I find that mine works best as a dipping sauce for fruit.
But it’s cool to see somebody taking an often-overlooked item and doing something totally new with it. It feels very much in the Bay Area spirit to innovate on something that’s existed for thousands of years.
You can check out Crazy Honey Infusions’ website to see where they’ll be selling their honeys next or to order big jars online.
