What Are Honey Dates?

Honey dates are one of the Coachella Valley’s small-farm treasures — a soft, golden-amber date with a mild, light sweetness that tastes exactly like its name. You’ll rarely see them in a grocery store; they’re mostly sold at farmers markets and farm stands by the handful of valley growers who keep the old varieties alive.

Taste and texture

Where a Medjool hits you with deep caramel, a Honey date whispers: gentle, floral sweetness, a tender-soft bite, and a lighter finish. They’re smaller than Medjool, with thinner skin, and fans prize them as the easiest-eating date there is — the one you hand to someone who thinks they don’t like dates.

We grow these. Golden Zahidi Dates — Nutty, Less Sweet, Never Sticky | California Farm-Direct from our family farm in Sky Valley, California — from $15/lb, shipping included. See them →

Why you can’t find them online

Soft, thin-skinned varieties like Honey don’t travel or store the way the commercial varieties do, so almost nobody ships them. They’re a buy-it-where-it-grows fruit — if you see them at a California farmers market, that’s your moment.

The honest note: we don’t grow Honey dates

Our grove in Sky Valley grows three varieties, chosen for how well they ship farm-direct: jumbo Medjool, golden Zahidi, and seasonal Barhi. If what draws you to Honey dates is that mild, golden, honeyed character, Zahidi is the closest cousin we grow — golden, nutty-sweet, with a gentle chew that Honey fans tend to love. If it’s the melt-soft texture you’re after, a fresh jumbo Medjool from cold storage is as soft as shipped dates get.

From our grove instead

Farm-direct, shipping included to the lower 48, posted prices: golden Zahidi and jumbo Medjool, one harvest a year, this season’s fruit selling now.

Desert Sun Dates is a family farm in Sky Valley, California. Curious about other varieties? See our guide to the different types of dates.