Going To the Dark Side (Of Maple Syrup)

I first blogged this in 2014 and repeating (with some updates) because maple syrup season is here.

Maple Weekend is coming to upstate New York - this weekend and next weekend.

I am fortunate to live in maple syrup country, because, for me, nothing else will ever touch my pancakes.  Of all maple syrup, I think the best is that produced using wood fired evaporators.  They give a special taste that just can't be duplicated.

We still have at least one producer who makes syrup that way.

Making maple syrup is an art.  There is a brief period of time at the end of winter when maple trees start to wake from their winter hibernation. Sap, clear and not very sweet at all, starts to flow.  The days must be above freezing and, preferably, sunny.  The nights must be below freezing.  These conditions produce a push-pull condition in the trees, causing the sap to flow.  Producers tap the trees, attach a bucket (involving judgement as to how many taps a tree can support) and collect the sap through tubes that lead to the processing house.

Some people drink the sap for health reasons.  I've sampled it and it isn't much different from water.  The magic comes later, after the evaporation process.  And, it's quite a process, with 40 parts of maple sap needed for one part of maple syrup.  That's a lot of sap, and a lot of heat source needed.  And all of that takes money and a continued investment on the part of the maple syrup producer.

The season lasts about 4-6 weeks.  When the trees start to bud, or temperatures remain above freezing, the sap turns bitter and the season is over.

At the beginning of the season, the sap produces a light syrup which is the most expensive to buy. Toward the end of the season, you get darker syrup.  In our part of upstate New York, we prefer the darker syrup for our pancakes.  In maple syrup, you want to go to the dark side.

I took these pictures in 2014 at Bush's Syrup House in Harpersville, New York (Travel tip:  it's not that far from where April the Giraffe lives at Animal Adventure - too bad Animal Adventure doesn't open until May.)  The day I visited in 2014, Bush's was producing dark syrup but it wasn't yet bottled or available for sale.

This is the barn with the evaporator.

The wood fired evaporator.

The syrup tank.

A display of maple candy molds and old fashioned taps (some dating from the 1700's).

After our look around, we walked into the sugar house to buy some syrup.  You may blanch at the price maple syrup goes for.  But, consider the amount of work that goes into the production of maple syrup.

Can you make maple syrup at home, as one of my wonderful readers wondered the other day?  Yes! (if you have the right kind of trees, that is.)  I worked with someone, years ago, whose husband  made syrup and, one year, offered it to sale. He totally sold out to his wife's co workers, including me.  I've never had better syrup before or since.  Just don't try the boiling in your kitchen - you will ruin your wallpaper.

With more people interested in natural sweeteners, more people may, despite the cost, be searching for real maple syrup.

If you are, why not consider New York State syrup?