For tea lovers, when it comes to enjoying a fresh tea, honey is one of the most common methods to sweeten your steaming cup of beverage bliss. However, the sticky sweetness is a magnet for messiness, which is why there are plenty of gadgets, kitchen tools, and decorative items that have evolved over the years for tea drinkers. If you’re unfamiliar with all that is available to you, consider the following ways to sweeten your tea with honey.

Honey Pots with Stirrers

When you’re entertaining family and friends with biscuits and a spot of tea, possessing a small honey pot with stirrer comes in handy. Honey pots not only cut down on the amount of mess made, but also add a decorative touch to your teatime spread. Oftentimes, these convenient containers are in the shape of a beehive, but not always. Creative honey pot designers have included Winnie the Pooh, Dutch windmills, and Easter eggs shapes.

Shatterproof Containers

If you’d like to lessen your chances of having a sticky mishap during teatime, avoid honey containers made out of glass and opt for shatterproof vessels. For example, Granja San Francisco Honey comes in a shatterproof beehive-shaped container, which conveniently pours from the bottom – no drips or leftover stickiness. This particular brand of premium honey is made and packaged in Spain. The bottle shown is of Granja San Francisco Rosemary and Lavender Honey, which has the added flavors of rosemary and lavender nectars.

Honey Sticks

Forgo the honey pot and the stirrer for honey sticks – perfect for individual use. Simply open the straw and stir the honey into your cup of tea. Today, honey sticks also come in a variety of flavors, including peach, amaretto, cinnamon, lemon, and mint. The compact size of the honey stick also makes an excellent travel companion for when you need an on-the-go sweetener.

Easy-to-Pour Bottles

Usually made out of plastic, choose easy-to-pour bottles that use a squeeze or squirt action to deliver a blast of honey to your cups of tea.

Honey Spoons

When you’d like the honey to simply drip or ooze into your cup, a honey spoon offers a unique (crooked) design comprised of stainless steel that balances on the edge of your teacup. There is another type of honey spoon to consider, as seen in the Tupelo Honey Flavoring Spoons – comprised of pure sweet honey that dissolves in about one minute from the end of a wooden stick.

Honey Dippers

Generally made out of wood and shaped like a beehive at the end of a long stick, a honey dipper is an inexpensive way to easily transfer honey from a jar to a cup. Some selections have been known to cost only $1.99.

With teaspoon in hand or a pile of cubes, plain white sugar is the most common method of sweetening tea. However, a wide selection of sweeteners is awaiting the chance to help you discover the many facets of drinking your preferred beverage. For example, often overlooked as a way to sweeten tea, brown sugar offers a deeper, richer flavor than its refined sugar cousin. You never know when you’re going to find a new favorite combination. A few ideas for sweetening your next cup of tea include:

1) Rock Sugar

Rock sugar is a rather decorative (and oftentimes colorful) form of sweetening your tea, making it the perfect addition to a tea party amongst friends. Rock sugar crystals are molded into rectangular prisms or attached to a stirring stick that dissolves in your hot cup of tea.

2) Indian Jaggery

For an exotic take on sweetening your tea, jaggery is unrefined sugarcane sugar often used to enhance the flavor of savory and sweet dishes all over India. With no preservatives and chemicals added to the sugar, prepare for a distinctive, earthy taste.

3) Maple Sugar

Treat your taste buds to a different take on tea by adding maple syrup as a sweetener. While processed sap is just as sweet as sugar, it actually contains more minerals and fewer calories than honey. Use Grade-B maple syrup for a highly flavorful treat.

4) Agave Syrup or Nectar

An increasing number of people are discovering the deliciousness of agave nectar – a natural sweetener that comes from the agave cactus. For centuries, people in South America and Mexico have used agave, which offers 50% more sweetness than regular sugar. Choose agave nectar for stronger teas to enjoy a taste that resembles a blend of honey and molasses.

5) Stevia

Sometimes, you must choose your tea sweetener to fit your health limitations. For example, most diabetics are stuck with the chemical aftertaste of artificial sweeteners. However, the leaves of the stevia plant produce a natural sweetener that doesn’t affect blood sugar levels. Scan your local market for options, such as Truvia.

6) Honey

With a variety of types and qualities, honey offers a versatile option in sweetening tea. Usually, clover honey is seen as the most popular choice because it possesses a somewhat neutral flavor. Other selections, such as tupelo honey with its buttery taste, offer flavor variations. The added benefit of using honey to sweeten your tea is that it contains healthy components, such as antibacterial properties. Many tea retailers also sell honey sticks for a less messy experience.

7) Simple Syrups

Also known as “sugar syrups,” solutions of sugar are boiled in water and often flavored with herbs or fruit (such as cranberries or ginger) during the cooking process.