Maple syrup is a beloved breakfast treat in the North Eastern United States. Often eaten on pancakes, waffles, French toast and ice cream, maple syrup is dark brown with strong sweetness. But what exactly is it? And where does it come from?
Maple syrup comes from the sap of sugar maple trees during winter months. A hole is drilled into a tree's trunk and sap flows out of the hole. The liquid collected varies in color depending on its maturity: fresh sap (green), late season (golden) and fire-heated (brown). The sap is collected by hanging a bucket on the end of a spout and collecting the sap.
The next step is to boil down the sap into maple syrup. This process takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. The sap is boiled in kettles over a wood fire (or coal) for many hours until it reaches 66 Brix, which is a specific concentration of sugar in water. The finished product has two grades: Grade A and Grade B, depending on color, taste and consistency. Generally speaking, Grade A has lighter color and more delicate flavor than Grade B. They both have different uses.
Maple syrup is a sweetener that can be created from the sap of maple trees. The sap is boiled down to create a thick, semi-solid form of syrup. Darker grades of syrup have a stronger, more robust flavor than lighter grades.
The sap typically starts flowing in late February or early March and stops flowing when the weather turns cold in October or November. Sap flow can vary from year to year as it depends on the weather conditions, but on average, about two gallons (8 liters) of pure maple syrup are produced per tap.
There are two main grades of maple syrup, depending on the color and flavor of the syrup. The lighter grades contain more water, less sugar, and a milder flavor than the darker grades. The darker grades can be sold as "Grade A dark amber" or "Grade B". However, in Canada the names are different, with "Panther Brand" being equivalent to "Grade A dark amber" and "Canada Number One" being equivalent to "Grade B".
In the United States, a grading system has been devised to classify maple syrup production according to specific gravity (SG) and color:
Preliminary processing for maple syrup involves extracting and filtering sap from trees. The sap is then boiled down to create a thick syrup. After the syrup has been processed, it is poured into jars and stored until ready for sale.
Maple syrup can be made from different species of maple trees, such as black maple (Acer nigrum), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), silver maple (Acer saccharinum), red maple (Acer rubrum) and white maple (Acer leucoderme). Maple sap is commonly boiled down to produce "pure" grade amber or darker grades of syrup, from which commercial grade syrups are produced by further processing. Grade A dark amber syrup typically has 45–55% sucrose content, with less water.
