The story behind our Honey Soy Sauce

Smoked Honey Spicy Soy Sauce: drop two.

Four years ago, we launched our first Honey Soy Sauce. A seasonal release, made with locally harvested honey. Piet is, as you might know, our brewer. But next to that, he is also a beekeeper. Together with his brother-in-law and sister, he looks after two large beehives. Quite a busy bee, you might say. It made perfect sense to position the hives on and around one of the farms we work with.

The honey those bees produce is a direct reflection of that area: of what’s blooming and what’s growing nearby. Honey might be the most direct expression of local flavor you can find. Sounds a bit dramatic maybe, but that’s what the internet told us. So, it must be true.

That first edition was seasonal, limited, and gone before we knew it. Yet in the years that followed, it became, by quite some distance, the product we were asked about the most. Emails, conversations, people visiting the brewery, all asking the same question: will you ever make the Honey Soy again? Whether it was the balance of sweet and salty, the idea behind it, or maybe even the illustration on the label, we’re not entirely sure. What we do know is that it clearly caught people’s attention.

But we didn’t want to simply repeat ourselves. Combined with the fact that we’re very proud to be growing our own Madame Jeanette peppers, this resulted in our Smoked Honey Spicy Soy Sauce. And now, we’re happy to present its second drop.

The result is a soy sauce with a lot going on, but hopefully in a way that feels subtle. Sweet from honey. Heat from pepper. Depth from smoke. The Madame Jeanette peppers and sesame seeds used in this infusion didn’t go to waste either. They formed the base of our Smoked Honey Sambal, where those same flavors develop into something bolder. All built on our signature soy sauce, which on its own is the reason we still do what we do.

From now on, this will be our yearly seasonal special. Honey can’t be rushed, and every harvest tastes a little different, so each edition will reflect its own season. Limited, of course. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. Until next year.

We’ve made this before, but this version is different. More of our own. More layers. We’re curious what you think.

Enjoy!