Our story
Rich in DIY enthusiasm,
low in experience
Sweet Sting started the way many things in New Zealand do. Two blokes with a good idea, (but no relevant food experience), started experimenting with an unhealthy amount of fresh chillies and buckets of beautiful local honey.
We were after one thing: honey with more life to it. Not a hot sauce with a token dab of honey on the ingredient list. Not a jar of honey with powdered chilli stirred through as an afterthought. We wanted something where the sweet and the heat arrived together in a triumphant celebration of flavour.
Getting there took a while. Nine chilli varieties, countless trial batches, and a rotating cast of patient friends, family and random barbecue guests who were told they were being helpful. Most of them were, thanks Steve.
What eventually came to life is the green bottle we still make today. It was the first Hot Honey made in New Zealand, and it’s still the one we’d take to a desert island.
Preferably a Fijian desert island with a decent surf break. And ample rum and coconuts.
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.