Heather vs red clover
Two gathered flowers of the northern European landscape, both strongly associated with a famous honey, and neither of which delivers any of that sweetness in a cup.
botanical
What is being compared
Point by point
| Aspect | Heather | Red clover |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The tiny purple flowers of the shrub that covers northern moorland. | The rose-pink head of a fodder legume sown across temperate pasture. |
| Where it comes from | Heather moorland, a human-made landscape maintained by burning and grazing. | Clover leys sown to restore nitrogen between grain crops. |
| Flavour | Dry, faintly honeyed and quite tannic, with a resinous moorland note. | Gently sweet and hay-like with a faint vanilla note. |
| Body | Medium and drying. | Light and smooth, easily lost in a blend. |
| The honey connection | Heather honey is famous and thixotropic; the infusion has none of its sweetness. | Clover honey is the commonest honey there is; again the infusion is not sweet. |
| Harvest | Flowering tips in late summer at full bloom; colour holds well. | Heads at full colour, dried fast — slow drying browns them. |
| Standing | Gathered domestically in Scotland, Norway and northern Germany; not a commercial tisane. | Bulk and colour in most packets rather than a speciality. |
The short answer
Red clover is the milder and heather the more characterful. Both disappoint anyone who came expecting the honey their names suggest.
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