Our story
Rich in DIY enthusiasm,
low in experience
Sweet Sting started the way most good things in a New Zealand kitchen do — with two people who had an idea, no relevant qualifications, and an unreasonable number of chillies.
We were after one thing: honey that fought back a little. Not a hot sauce with honey in it, and not honey with a bit of chilli stirred through as an afterthought — something where the sweetness and the heat arrive together and neither one wins.
That took a while. Nine chilli varieties, a great many trial batches, and a rotating cast of patient friends, family and entirely random barbecue guests who were told they were being helpful. Most of them were.
What came out is the bottle we still make today. It was the first hot honey made in New Zealand, and it is still the one we’d take to a desert island.
What’s actually in it
Three ingredients.
That’s the whole list.
No added sugar, no preservatives, no stabilisers, no thickeners. Turn the bottle around and read the back — it’s a short trip.
Coromandel & Marlborough honey
Raw and unblended, never heated past the point where it stops tasting like honey.
Northland & Auckland chillies
Nine varieties across the range, grown here and picked ripe rather than early.
Apple cider vinegar
The bit that keeps it bright instead of cloying, and does the preserving so nothing artificial has to.