Fancy sipping on a honey-inspired cocktail and grazing on a cheese platter sprinkled with liquid gold while a world-famous sommelier talks about tasting notes and the nuances of nectar?

If this sounds like a sweet way to spend a summer afternoon then head over to Burnetts on Barney on 7 November to join Kiama beekeeper Rachael Peedom and Jessica Locarnini, Australia’s only certified honey sommelier, for a tasting masterclass.

“Who knew there was such a thing,” laughs Rachael. “But Jess is the nation’s only certified honey sommelier which means she is in demand across the country.”

Rachael and Jessica fell in love with beekeeping after setting up hobby hives in their respective backyards - Rachael in Kiama in 2017 and Jessica in Victoria in 2005.

Rachael keeping the bees.

Since then their passion projects have taken flight, with Rachael - the resident beekeeper at Burnett’s for almost a decade - now a mentor for keepers across the state and Jessica in demand across the nation for her ability to detect honey’s most delicate flavour notes.

Rachael, a former pilot, has 25 hives across Kiama, including 11 at the popular nursery owned by Elizabeth and her husband Andrew.

Rachael also runs beekeeping workshops at Burnetts for school students, as well as the general public as part of her education and mentoring business, Bee Inspired.

Similarly, Jessica has taken her sweet hobby to the next level, studying in Italy and the US to join a register of “Experts in Sensory Analysis of Honey” and gain global accreditation as a honey sommelier.

She now travels across the nation to deliver tasting masterclasses, judge competitions and educate anyone interested in learning all there is to know about Australian honey.

“Honey is so much more than ‘sweet’,” says Jessica.

“Each spoonful tells a story of place and season. Once you start expanding your flavour descriptions from caramel to fruit tingles and flowers, you never look at honey the same way again.”

Jessica hopes people who join her masterclass will taste honey the way they taste wine with “curiosity, nostalgia and imagination”.

“We are so excited to have Jessica in Kiama,” says Rachael.

“I first came across her during COVID when she ran a honey tasting event online. Jess would send samples of honey to people’s homes with tasting notes and encourage you to write down what you were tasting.

“To have the nation’s only honey sommelier in Kiama running a tasting masterclass is pretty amazing.

“(Elizabeth) will create delicious grazing platters using local produce, including cheeses to pair with the honey, and there will be live music and a signature honey cocktail.”

Rachael says there will be “abundance of honey” from the nursery’s Flow hives and Langstroth Hives for Jessica to taste and provide notes on.

But she believes the world-class sommelier could have her work cut out for her detecting the subtle differences in the floral notes unique to Kiama honey.

“The bees are spoiled for choice here at Burnett's because everything is flowering all the time so they have a feast to choose from,” says Rachael.

“The honey here is always so diverse and I’ve never tried to pretend I know what the bees are feeding on.

“We’ve got 20 different varieties of eucalypt alone in Kiama, then there’s the coastal wattles and the native banksia, which makes for a deep, rich coloured honey.

“We’ve even had some honey come out of the hives over the weekend that tastes like toasted marshmallow.

“But Jess has such a finely tuned palate for tasting honey, it’s why she’s the nation’s only certified honey sommelier, and she will be sharing that art and science with us all.”

Rachael, who has recently expanded from three hives to 11 at Burnetts, is hopeful for a bountiful yield of honey this season after wet weather, coupled with an outbreak of the deadly varroa mite, decimated hives across the state last year.

“Last year was a tough season because of all the rain, it washed away all the flowers and pollen that the bees feed on,” says Rachael.

“In the past we probably would’ve produced around 50kg of honey per annum at the Burnetts Apiary if it had been a good season.

Jessica Locarnini.

“But this year, with the additional hives and more favourable weather so far, I’m anticipating around 350kg.”

Tickets to the honey tasting masterclass, which runs from 5-7pm, are available online.

Rachael says the event is also running on Saturday 8 November at Bay and Bush Cabins at Jervis Bay at 10am.