Leila R.
Yelp
DISCLAIMER: This review is for the Honey House Tour ONLY
I did the Honey House Tour this past Saturday via a Groupon I had purchased and I have to say I was very underwhelmed by the content. Where the content of the tour and tasting were lacking, I will say that the owners and staff were very courteous, so this review is not a commentary on their quality of service or the caliber of their honey.
That being said, the tour takes place in their bottling warehouse and there is a quasi-classroom feel to the rows of foldable chairs (there are more comfortable chairs in the back for those with a disability and pregnant women) and the owner does a little opening spiel about RR honey, the drought, their production, and then you watch an 8min video about how RR Honey got started and info about their hives and the quality of their honey. Then one of their staff did an awkward presentation about the bees themselves and what the difference is between a worker, drone, and queen (you could tell he was nervous and it was rehearsed). Then, the owner talked about how the honey was made. While somewhat informative, the delivery was the issue. With there being a lot and I mean A LOT of young kids in the audience, they need to pep up the presentation and either make it more interactive or do an FYI that the presentation is "lecture format". Honestly, I felt myself nodding off a couple of times and getting antsy!
After that, they took us into the bottling area and showed us how they bottle their honey. There were a few bees flying around the bottling area, but we were assured they were non-aggressive as they were "honey drunk" bees that had followed the honey brought from the hives. If I am being truthful, following a honey drunk bee try and figure out why it couldn't access the honey it was smelling from the stainless steel tank was the most entertaining part of the tour.
The tour went over the allotted hour and we were still in the bottling area; I had made plans right after the tour so I had to leave. I was a little disappointed that I was going to miss the tasting. Thankfully, the owner's wife had come out w/a tray of small spoons with honey on them. Again, I was underwhelmed that this was the extent of the tasting. I don't know what I was expecting as I'd never done a honey tasting before, but surely for $20 ($8 for the Groupon) it should consist of something a bit more substantial than a small plastic spoon of honey.
The honey itself was phenomenal and you can buy a bottle directly off the line (freshest) for $10 or in their shop (the pricing might be in one of my pics). But, honestly, they really need to look at revamping their "Tour & Tasting" because I can't see paying $20 for what I experienced. In all honesty, I was disappointed I paid $8.
I think the owner and his wife are running an awesome honey business and you can definitely taste the quality, but as far as spending the time and money for the Honey House Tour I did, I cannot recommend it.
I think my $8 would have been better spent buying an actual bottle of honey or bee pollen.