James Jennings We Stop at Excellent On April 12, 2020. the snow was gone, but it was still freezing at night and the sap was running. The weather forecast for the next 10 days indicated more freezing nights but very warm days, as high a... Sugarbush Management Tasting Jan 14, 2026
James Jennings Tapping the Trees In February, while the snow is deep and the temperatures stay below freezing, we start tapping the trees to be ready for when the sap starts to run. The trees need to be at least 25cm in diameter befo... Sugarbush Management Jan 14, 2026
James Jennings Making the Grade Maple syrup is graded by light transmission, or color. Syrup changes color as temperature and time play with the sap. The coloring of syrup is affected by several factors and each factor can influence... Jan 14, 2026
James Jennings Evaporated over a Wood Fire Boiling sap over a wood fire is not the easiest way to make maple syrup, but we believe it is the right way because it is carbon neutral. Industrial producers of maple syrup use oil fired evaporators.... Ecological Sugarbush Management Jan 14, 2026
James Jennings Reverse Osmosis Sap from sugar maples is 2 percent sugar. By law, Vermont maple syrup is between 66.9 to 68.9 percent sugar, which is a higher standard than most other US states and Canada. It takes a lot of energy t... Ecological Jan 14, 2026
James Jennings Ecological Renewable Energy Evaporating our maple syrup over a wood fire is not the easiest way to concentrate sap... but we feel strongly that it’s the best. It is the traditional manner which has been used for... Ecological Sugarbush Management Jan 14, 2026
Becky Guldin Advanced sugaring for nerds In a Facebook group for sugarmakers, others in the industry have made comments like, “flavor is entirely subjective” and “flavor is a matter of opinion.” When you're producing maple syrup, flavor is v... Jan 14, 2026
Becky Guldin What sugarbushes can learn from dying dairy farms Small dairy farms have largely disappeared from the American farm landscape and medium dairy farms are following. Safety regulations required producers to switch from milk cans to refrigerated double-... Jan 14, 2026
Becky Guldin Can you taste colors? The batching and blending of excellent, average, and defective syrup happens because we do not have a good way for producers and buyers to talk about flavor and a way to communicate it to consumers. W... Jan 14, 2026
Becky Guldin Density and viscosity Have you ever noticed that some maple syrup grades feel thicker than others? Maple syrup viscosity decreases from golden to amber to dark. That means it feels thinner even though it is the same densit... Jan 14, 2026
Becky Guldin Maple flavor Maple flavor is strongest in mid-season maple syrup. Why? That's the question. Ambient temperature rises throughout the season and affects some flavors more than others. The flavors that increase thro... Jan 14, 2026
