Several years ago, a friend of mine who lives in Woodland, introduced me to Z Specialty Foods Warehouse sale and I have attended every year since!  I’ve always liked honey but I am now in love with it.  I had no idea how many varieties there are and how different the flavors are!

Z Specialty Foods sell their products on line, but several times a year they have a warehouse sale where you can taste them before you buy!  They must have 30 or more different varieties of honey, all of them available to taste.  They have fruit spreads sweetened with their honey and nut spreads, appetizer spreads (Cowboy Caviar), bee pollen, if it comes from a bee, they have it!

This is a family owned business.  They all possess vast knowledge of bees and honey, and they are just really nice folks!  I always learn something interesting.  For instance, they have a Buckeye honey available that will not be offered again once it is gone.  The beekeeper that produced the honey was from another country.  He saw the beautiful flowering Buckeye and thought it would be a great place for his hives.  The bad news is that Buckeye is poisonous and killed his bees!

Josh talking about honey

They also host some other locally produced product tastings.  Strad Mead is made with their honey and had samples available.  Yolo Brewing company was pouring their Orange Blossom Blond which was very good.  Also there was Buckeye Creek, a local olive oil company offering a sample of their oils and a blueberry vinegar that had to come home with me!  Sadly the beer and mead are not for sale here.  (No license!)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I like to go to the November and December events to get Christmas gifts.  They sell little 2 ounce jars of their honey, fruit spreads and nut butters.  I like to attach my Thanksgiving or Christmas Place setting cards to a jar for each guest to take home.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It’s a super fun way to shop.  They always have live music and raffle off some of their wares.  My name was drawn this year!!  The Jonny Gold Trio was playing adding such a nice holiday feel to the event.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I am not proud of these photos, but I love this event so much that I decided to do a post on it.  Check out Z Specialty Foods web site.  If you’re into beer, check out Yolo Brew’s web site and Facebook Event page.