Honey in Coffee (and Tea): How to Sweeten with Honey and Which to Use

Honey in coffee is a simple swap for sugar: stir in a spoonful while the coffee is hot and it dissolves easily. It adds sweetness plus its own flavour, which can be delicate or bold depending on the honey. The same is true for tea, where honey is an even more familiar companion. Here is how to get the amount right, how to sweeten iced drinks, and which kinds of honey suit coffee and tea best.

How much honey to use

Honey tastes sweeter than sugar because it is high in fructose, so you can usually use a little less. The National Honey Board notes that honey has a higher sweetening power than sugar. A good starting point:

If you usually take…	Try this much honey
1 tsp sugar	about ¾ tsp honey
2 tsp sugar	about 1½ tsp honey
1 tbsp sugar	about 2 tsp honey

Honey is also denser than sugar: one cup of honey weighs about 12 ounces, according to the National Honey Board. Stir well, as it tends to sink to the bottom of the cup.

Hot coffee: when to add the honey

Add honey to hot coffee or tea and stir until it disappears. Very hot drinks can dull the more delicate aromas of a fine honey, so if you are using something special such as Kalymnos thyme honey, let the cup cool for a minute or two first. For everyday honey, it makes little difference.

Iced coffee and cold drinks: make honey syrup

Honey stays thick in cold liquid and clumps instead of dissolving. The fix is a quick honey syrup:

1. Mix equal parts honey and hot water (for example, ¼ cup of each).
2. Stir until smooth and let it cool.
3. Keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge and use within about 2 weeks.
4. Add 1–2 teaspoons to iced coffee, a freddo espresso or a Greek frappé.

Which honey for coffee?

• Mild honeys such as clover or acacia sweeten with little flavour of their own; good if you want coffee to taste like coffee.
• Thyme honey adds a herbal, floral note that is lovely with milky coffee and with Greek coffee.
• Darker honeys such as pine or chestnut have a strong, slightly bitter, caramel taste that suits dark roasts. See our pine honey vs thyme honey comparison.

Honey in tea

Honey and tea are a classic pairing. Black tea takes most honeys well; green and white teas are better with mild honey, added once the tea has cooled slightly. In Greece, a spoonful of thyme honey in a cup of Greek mountain tea is a winter habit; try it with our Olympus mountain tea. For a sore-throat-season favourite, honey and lemon in hot water is simple and comforting, though we make no health claims for it. Our honey lemon tea recipe gives the ratios and iced variations.

Honey in Greek coffee?

Traditional Greek coffee is sweetened with sugar during brewing in the briki, because the sugar affects the foam. If you want to try honey, brew the coffee unsweetened (sketos) and stir a little honey into the cup afterwards, or serve a spoonful of honey on the side, as some Greek cafés do.

A few cautions

• Honey should not be given to babies under 12 months old, even in drinks, as the CDC advises.
• Honey is still a sugar; use it in moderation, as you would table sugar. See our honey nutrition facts for calories and carbohydrates.
• For caffeine, the US FDA cites 400 mg a day as an amount not generally associated with negative effects for healthy adults.

Find more ways to use honey in our Greek honey collection, in our honey substitutes guide and in the pantry guide library.

Sources

• National Honey Board: Honey FAQ (substituting honey for sugar, raw and filtered honey, infants)
• CDC: Foods and drinks to avoid or limit for infants
• US FDA: Spilling the beans: how much caffeine is too much?

Honey in coffee: frequently asked questions