Petal Honey Co. is just about one year old, and yet its client list — restaurants, bars, coffee houses, tea shops — from downtown to Disney Springs, reads like something parsed from the Orlando Sentinel Foodie Awards.
Soseki. The Ravenous Pig, The Osprey. Lineage. Just to name a few.
And most, says owner Drew Miller, were gleaned by the simple act of extending a hand.
“I would try to email and that never worked,” says Miller. “So I simply started walking into kitchens.”
This is who we are, he’d say. Then he’d tell their story.
And the story, along with Petal’s single-source honey — wildflower, orange blossom and saw palmetto varieties, all sourced within 60 miles of Orlando — made the sale.
The Miller family’s journey into honey began about three years ago when he ventured onto the grounds of Goldenrod Apiaries to grab a jar of the brand he’d been enjoying since it was a kid. He met the owner. Like the sweet stuff itself, conversation flowed.
“I’d just resigned from my job, and so Ed (Hansen, the proprietor) — who was looking for help at the time — asked if I wanted to learn the honey business.”
Three days in, Miller caught the bug, no pun intended. Though his job fell more on the packing side of the business, he was curious about beekeeping. He began taking classes, acquiring hives and as Hansen began the process of handing his decades-old operation over to younger members of his family, Miller began the process of building a new one for his own.
“A honey business sounded crazy!” he admits, “But we have had family and friends who have helped us and here we are. We just believe that God gives you everything you need in a season to work with.”
The seasons play into what they work with, for sure. Wildflower honey, sourced from their downtown home hives and others scattered around the state, is perennial while citrus — some of it sourced at Uncle Matt’s Organic Farm in Clermont — and saw palmetto ebb and flow. All of it is single-source.
This not only means that each jar is 100 percent its labeled variety, it’s also 100 percent from one specific spot.
“We knew that if we were going to do this, we were going to make the best tasting honey and let it be nuanced by the season, like wine,” says Miller, whose operation is entirely family-run. “We pride ourselves on that.”
So, too, do the local businesses that use it.
At the Polite Pig, Petal offers sweetness to the barbecue sauce. At it’s Ravenous sister in Winter Park, it graces the cheese boards and is the base for housemade hot honey. Peterbrooke Chocolatier of Winter Park recently debuted its honey bourbon truffles, featuring Petal Honey, at Cows & Cabs. You can pick them up at the Park Avenue shop.
Lisa Wilk, one third of the Tasty Trio, which teaches wine, cheese and chocolate classes (next class Feb. 9 at Quantum Leap Winery) is a fan, too, and an avid supporter of local.
“We’ve been drizzling Petal Honey Co. orange blossom on Manchego or Rogue Smoky Blue and the wildflower honey on fresh chevre and Feta. There is beautiful depth of flavor and nuance.”
That’s the mark of single-origin, which sweetens the cheesecake at The Monroe downtown and cocktails at The Guesthouse in Mills 50. You can also get it at a host of shops around the city (Winter Park’s KOS, Waterford Lakes’ Duo 58 and Infusion Tea in College Park to name a few) or order online.
“Everyone has been very receptive,” says Miller, who is intentional in his partnerships. “There’s such a difference when a place is local or family-owned. The whole culture is different. They give you the time of day, they give their chefs the freedom to create and have fun. The hardest part is that it’s easy for someone to check a box on the Sysco website — but we make it as simple as we can and I deliver it myself.”
This year, Petal produced about 875 gallons from roughly 1,000 hives, his own and those of the folks with which he partners. And he’s an advocate for all of honey’s uses — sweetness that you can taste, yes, but also that can heal.
“It’s the only thing that worked on our daughter’s eczema,” he explains, which was quite severe when she was younger. “In two days, it almost cleared up completely.”
Bees, he believes, are remarkable creatures.
“And the more I’ve learned about them and their plight, the more I want to help safeguard them, to build their immune systems and help keep them from mites and pesticides. We want to see them thrive. And we enjoy partnering with other families who have that passion, as well.”
More info: petalhoneyco.com
Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group or follow @fun.things.orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
