Why Black Bear Honey Drinks Are Different
Romilla ArberSome ideas take shape slowly. For Stephen, founder of Black Bear Honey Co Ltd, it began with a love of craft brewing, a few beehives, and a desire to create something that felt balanced - for both body and mind.
“I’d been beekeeping for about eight years,” he explains. “It started at a time when I was going through some challenges with my mental health. Beekeeping gave me space to slow down, learn a craft, and reconnect with something creative.”
That craft soon grew into something bigger. Drawing on his brewing background and his hives’ own honey, Stephen began experimenting with a drink that felt as pure and natural as the process behind it.
"I’d tried iced teas, I’d tried kombuchas, but there wasn’t anything that captured that grassy, floral flavour of tea while keeping the sweetness natural. Green tea and honey just worked - it created this lovely balance.”
Cold Brewed, Never Rushed
Unlike typical iced teas, which start with boiling water, Stephen’s drinks are cold-brewed - a method inspired by traditional Japanese tea-making. The tea leaves are steeped overnight in chilled water, releasing antioxidants and clean, delicate flavours without bitterness.
“With cold brewing, you get a much cleaner, more refreshing flavour,” Stephen says. “You don’t get the scorched notes you sometimes find in hot tea. It’s smoother, gentler - and it lets the ingredients shine.”
That’s part of why these drinks feel different. They’re naturally sweetened with real honey, not refined sugar or artificial substitutes. “The only ingredients in the classic are green tea and honey,” he says. “It shows how simple ingredients can still be complex. You don’t need to add anything else.”
Flavours Rooted in Place
From the Classic Green Tea & Honey to Apple & Chamomile and Pear & Elderflower, each drink celebrates provenance and restraint. The fruit is pressed in Herefordshire, the botanicals sourced from the Wye Valley - ingredients that are as real as the bees and blossoms that inspired them.
“Honey is already such a complex ingredient,” Stephen explains. “The bees forage on poppy, clover, lime, blackberry - all those natural flavours come through. You don’t need to mask that with additives.”
This commitment to real ingredients makes the drinks a thoughtful alternative for anyone looking for a naturally sweet, alcohol-free option that still feels like a treat. “A lot of people tell me they’re cutting down on alcohol but still want something interesting to drink when they’re out. Or they’re diabetic and like that my drinks use honey - a complex sugar that doesn’t give them the same crash.”
Shared Values
The partnership between Black Bear Honey and Honesty came naturally. Both share a belief in doing things properly - sourcing locally, avoiding additives, and supporting craft over convenience.
“One of the reasons I wanted to work with Honesty,” Stephen says, “is because we have that same ethos - local, transparent, no hidden nonsense. They’ve always supported small producers, and for me, being able to reach more people through them feels like the right kind of growth.”
Small Batch, Big Heart
For Stephen, every can still feels personal. He remembers selling the very first one at a local market. “When someone took a sip and said, ‘I love this - I’ve never had anything like it,’ that meant everything. It showed me that even with something like bipolar, you can still build something meaningful, something that helps people feel good.”
Black Bear Honey drinks are quietly confident - made with intention, not embellishment. They’re proof that when you give good ingredients the time and care they deserve, they speak for themselves.
