Today I’m bringing you my fifth product review from the truly fantastic company Tropical Traditions (if you need to get caught up on what I’ve tried so far and why they all rock, check out my reviews on organic coconut oil, eco-friendly dishwashing detergent, organic thick rolled oats and organic hair oils).

Today we’re going to talk about raw honey. Now, I’ll be honest with you. I had a vague notion that raw honey was good for you and that I should try it, but that’s about as far as my knowledge spanned. When it arrived, I noticed that Tropical Traditions Raw Honey doesn’t have that clear and shiny look that I’m used to seeing. It’s much lighter in color (really a pale yellow) and looks very creamy. The taste….DELICIOUS! So I knew right away that raw honey looks and tastes different.

But I still wanted to learn about why raw honey was better for me and my family than the stuff I’ve always bought at the grocery store (I usually just get whatever is cheapest). Fortunately, the Tropical Traditions site is always brimming with helpful information. I learned on the site that raw honey has not been subject to high heat and pasteurization, unlike the vast majority of honey products on the market. When you heat the honey up to such high temperatures, you remove many of the natural enzymes and nutrients found in honey. I also learned that truly raw honeys don’t deteriorate with age. This is definitely NOT something you can say about other honeys (we are constantly battling hardening honey. In fact, we previously bought a glass jar for our honey so that we could keep it in there and microwave it before every use because it was always hard). It has been really nice to realize that the Tropical Traditions raw honey isn’t going to have that problem.

So now we all know why raw honey is a better choice, in general. Now it’s time to learn about what makes Tropical Traditions Raw Honey a most excellent choice. From their site, “Tropical Traditions Organic Raw Honey comes from the frontier areas of Canada, and is only harvested during a 6-week period in the summer. Tropical Traditions is the exclusive source of this premium organic honey in the U.S. Most commercial honeys available on the market today come from bee farms, where the bees are controlled within a certain area and get their pollen from usually only one kind of flower. Many of the plants that produce these flowers (clover, orange blossom, etc.) are grown with pesticides and fertilizers as well.” So this honey is not only raw, but also organic. It is also exclusive, meaning that you can’t find this exact same product anywhere else. The taste of the honey is more complex and satisfying, as well, since the bees are able to gather pollen from a variety of flowers and since the honey is only harvested at a period of time that naturally makes sense for the bees.

Buy it!: Tropical Traditions Honey retails for $19.50 for a 17.6 oz glass jar, but through 07/03 it is on sale for $9.99! If your pantry needs some more honey, you will most definitely not be disappointed with this purchase!

Win it!: Hooray! One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win a 17.6 oz jar of Tropical Traditions Raw Honey! The contest will run until 07/12/2011 at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Poke around the Tropical Traditions website and tell me another product that you’d like to try (good luck choosing just one!).

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Like Tropical Traditions on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Google Friend Connect (found on my sidebar)

Rare bonus entry: Subscribe to the Tropical Traditions newsletter (and hear about their sales!).

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.