In beekeeping, Vasilis Koutroulakis found an escape from the suffocating city life. His exceptional honey earned first place in Gastronomos magazine’s blind tasting.
The product that received the highest score in the blind tasting conducted by the Gastronomos team was KόRYS carob honey, earning an impressive 305 points for such an unusual, autumnal honey. With a spicy flavor, rich coffee notes, and a hint of smokiness, this is a gourmet honey that you will either love or hate. The tasters, however, all loved it. The runner-up, with a score of 262 points, was an oak honey also by KόRYS. This is no coincidence.
There is no doubt that the young beekeeper Vasilis Koutroulakis from Kleitoria, Achaia, made the right decision when he left Athens 21 years earlier and moved to his mother’s birthplace to fully pursue beekeeping. As he himself admits, enrolling in beekeeping school after high school was a random choice. He had no family in the profession, knew nothing about these miraculous insects, and was simply looking for an excuse to move to the village – city life did not suit him.
During the early years, two local producers helped him learn the secrets of the trade. After all, the region is renowned for its exquisite fir honey, owing to the fir forest of Mt. Chelmos. Today, twenty years later, Vasilis Koutroulakis takes his 600 beehives across much of the Peloponnese, Evia, and mainland Greece – all the way to Soufli – chasing the flowering and honey production seasons all year round. When he is in Kleitoria, near Kalavrita, he spreads honey on bread for his children – vanilla fir honey for his daughter Georgia and oak honey for his son Dimitris. His modern beekeeping workshop has officially operated there since 2008, overlooking Mt. Chelmos. It was this mountain that inspired the name of the brand: Korys. In ancient Greek, korys refers to the topmost part of the helm, which is reminiscent of the mountain peak that he greets every day upon arriving at the facility. From here, approximately 30% of the production is exported to Germany, England, Finland, Austria
