Hot Honey’s Caramelized Sequel

Burnt honey, or caramelized honey, is accelerating on menus, emerging as the next big honey trend in the footsteps of hot honey.

Datassential recently highlighted burnt honey as one of 13 trends to know during its recent Midyear Trends Event Simply Smarter Webinar. “We’re moving beyond hot honey into the burnt honey stage,” Jaclyn Marks, a Datassential Trendologist & Senior Publications Manager, said during the webinar. 

Over the past 12 months, burnt honey is up 160% on menus, and it is expected to grow another 11% over the next four years, according to Datassential One.

The rise of burnt honey aligns with the broader burnt and charred flavors trend Datassential highlighted back in 2016, but has remained relevant over the years. 

Burnt honey builds on the momentum of hot honey, which is up 246% on menus over the past four years and on 12% of menus overall.

During the Midyear Trends Event webinar, Marks noted that burnt honey is highly versatile and can appear in everything from cocktails to desserts to comfort foods and more. She pointed out that the Dallas-based restaurant Sassetta offers a pizza with burnt honey drizzled on top, “a similar application to how you would use hot honey.” 

Datassential’s State of the Menu 2026 report also flagged burnt honey as one of the fastest-growing compound flavors, ahead of chocolate strawberry and watermelon lemonade.

Social media conversation around burnt honey notably jumped in October 2025, when mentions more than doubled, and it has held steady since. So far this year, the flavor has generated nearly 200,000 engagements, according to Datassential’s Social Listening data.