All The Buzz on Urban Apiaries with Rooftop Crop

When the idea for this collaboration came about last spring, we discussed a hot pepper and marigold infused honey to work with the items being grown on our rooftop garden. The team began to think about introducing smoky notes to the honey as well. This proved to be an obstacle as Roofcrop was not sure whether we could achieve a dried, smoked chili flavor. Within the process of achieving the desired flavor profiles, this collaboration brought out smoky, sweet, and earthy qualities.

The process

Supplying Roofcrop with Anchos from our garden, the peppers were toasted in a low heat oven to prepare them to be ground. Once the peppers were prepared, three separate batches of honey were infused to taste. One with marigold petals only, one with marigold leaf only and one with the toasted and ground ancho. Roofcrop performed an internal tasting and did a ratio blending for the Emily team to approve the final composition.

We were in awe with the color the ancho chilies gave to the honey, as well as the almost caramel flavor notes the balance of the infusion provided. The natural sweetness of the honey this year almost needed the earthy qualities of the marigolds for balance. Honey infusions can take anywhere from two to six weeks, with a taste test at the two-week mark which will decide whether the infusion is ready to bottle.

Roofcrop infusions are low temp using a honey blanket heater, which helps prevent pasteurization and keeps all their honey raw. Our Emily Hotel and Roofcrop collaboration maintains all the health benefits of raw honey! Our collaboration provides a great local raw honey option for our Chicago neighbors, or a gift to bring back home to your friends and family after your stay with us. Grab a jar in our Coffee Bar!