How Is It Made? When Is It Running? Are There Different Kinds of Maple Syrup?
Is there anything that doesn’t taste just a little bit better with a splash of maple syrup? Sure, it’s great on pancakes and waffles, but it’s also a great addition to pork, fish, poultry, lamb and beef. Maple-glazed donuts, barbeque sauces, marinades…there’s even maple-flavored beer! How do we get maple syrup? What is the peak season for maple syrup? Are there different kinds of maple syrup?
The Origins of Maple Syrup
Historians trace the first use of maple syrup to indigenous communities in the Northeastern region of the North American continent. There’s no evidence that Europeans tapped maple trees and produced syrup before their contact with the New World. Oral histories of the Algonquians suggest that tribes developed annual rituals around the harvesting and production of maple syrup and maple sugar, including a “Sugar Moon” celebration that featured a “maple dance.”
Documents indicate that the indigenous tribes introduced settlers to the maple tapping process shortly after they arrived, as there’s evidence that fur traders were also dealing in maple sugar and maple syrup as early as 1680. Until the mid-19th century, though, most of the production was of sugar, as the other primary source—cane sugar from the West Indies—was an expensive import.
Today, most maple syrup comes from Canada…about 75%…with Quebec producing more than 90% of the Canadian maple syrup. The climate in Quebec is ideal for maple production, with long cold winters and warm spring days, which make it easy to regulate the flow of sap. In addition, Canada has 10 native species of maple and has more maple trees than anywhere else on earth.
How Is Maple Syrup Made?
The production of maple syrup is essentially a four-step process:
- The trees must be tapped—Any maple tree will produce maple syrup, but some types of maple trees have a higher sugar content. Maple farmers drill about two inches into the layer just beneath the bark and insert a tap or spout.
- The sap is harvested—Nature does most of the work here, as the sap naturally flows up the tree in the spring. When done properly, taking sap from the maple tree does not do any harm. Trees may safely be tapped year after year, provided they are not overtapped and that care is taken when drilling the tap holes.
- The sap must be boiled—As it comes out of the tree, the sap is similar to water. To convert it to a syrup, it must be boiled, so that most of the water is removed. As a general rule, it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.
- The finished product is bottled or canned
Are There Different Kinds of Maple Syrup?
While maple syrup is generally maple syrup, some trees have a higher sugar content and will produce a sweeter syrup. Not surprisingly, the Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) has the highest sugar content of all maples and is typically the preferred tree for syrup production.
In addition, maple syrup may be graded as golden, amber, dark or very dark, based on color and flavor. Factors that affect the grade include the boiling time, the sugars in the sap, the pH level in the sap and the temperature at which the sap is harvested.
