Maple Syrup-ery

Sugarbush Farm

Sugarbush Farm

We visited a maple syrup farm in Vermont called Sugarbush Farm. Here you can wander through the woods and explore the more than 5000 maple trees. There are information signs posted and you can read about the maple syrup process along the way. We had no idea of what went into making maple syrup. We had no idea maple syrup tasted so good. Now that we do, there’s no going back.

Maple Tree Sap Tube Lines

Maple Tree Sap Tube Lines

We had seen these plastic ropes strung between trees during our time driving around. It’s the weirdest thing and we had no idea what it was. They were too high and too randomly distributed to be fencing. Once we visited the maple syrup farm we learned. In the old days, they would tap a tree and hang a bucket under it. The maple sap would ooze out into the bucket. Each day the farmer would trek out through the deep snow and collect the buckets. It’s a labor intensive process. Modernization of this process involved connecting the maple trees with plastic tubing. Tap the tree and insert a tube. Connect all the tubes to a bigger tube and run it down the hill to a single collection point. Ingeniously simple! But it does make for a fine maze of tubes strung through the trees that just looks weird.

The loops in the plastic lines are how they keep them clean when not in use. They simply loop it back onto itself to keep stuff out. Each year a new tap hole is drilled and the line inserted into the new hole. You can see many, many scar holes from previous years in each tree.

Maple Trees, Taps, and Lines

Maple Trees, Taps, and Lines

The maple sap can only be collected in the spring from about late February to about mid April when the trees start to bud. Six to eight weeks, that’s all you get for the season. Each tree produces on average about one gallon of sap per day. Sometimes they produce just a dribble and sometimes up to about three gallons a day. It takes about 40-50 gallons of sap make 1 gallon of syrup. To make the syrup, you boil the sap. That’s it. Simple, huh?

The sap that comes at the beginning of the harvest is the best. It makes for the “Fancy Grade” syrup. It’s very light in color, almost golden. It’s very sweet and simply delicious.

About two weeks later the sap starts to darken and makes the “Grade A Medium”. This is slightly darker, amber in color, and still sweet and good. It’s still a really good syrup, just not as good as the fancy.

About two weeks after that the sap darkens further. It makes the “Grade A Dark” syrup. It’s much darker, almost black. It’s not as sweet, and has a slight “charred” taste.

Vermont Maple Syrup Grades

Vermont Maple Syrup Grades

At the end of the harvest, right as the leaves start to bud, the sap has just about run its course for the year. This sap make the “Grade B” syrup. It’s not very sweet and has a slight burned taste. It’s not very good. This is what you will find in most grocery stores at home in Texas. I think the fine folks of Vermont keep the good stuff for themselves and export the Grade B to the south. That’s why I never liked maple syrup before, it just didn’t taste good and now I know why.

Up here though it’s a different story. It’s in every store. It’s in every road side stand. It’s in every souvenir shop. You can’t miss it anywhere you go. There it is. Maple Syrup. We bought three bottles. I guess we’ll have to mail order more when we run out.