All the maple trivia you need!

HOW MANY GALLONS OF SAP DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE A GALLON OF MAPLE SYRUP?
About 40.

HOW MUCH SUGAR IS IN RAW MAPLE SAP?
On average, about 2% natural sugar. Some trees produce less, but some have been know to produce as much as 10%!

WHAT DOES RAW MAPLE SAP LOOK AND TASTE LIKE?
It looks like water – clear and pure. It tastes like water with a hint of sweetness.

IS THERE MORE THAN ONE KIND OF MAPLE TREE?
Yes! There are over 100 varieties. But only the Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) has the high concentration of natural sugar. (If you tap any of the others you’ll be boiling a long, long time!)

WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT MAPLE SYRUP GRADES?
There are two distinct Grades of Maple Syrup. See About Grades for more information. Basically there are 2 grades of maple syrup available to the public, Grade A and Grade B. Grade A syrup comes in 3 ambers, light, medium and dark. The darker the syrup...the heavier the maple flavor.

HOW SHOULD I STORE MY MAPLE SYRUP?
See Storing Maple Syrup for lots of good information.Although people enjoy the old time look of tin containers, they tend to change the flavor of the syrup. Once opened, the syrup should be moved to a glass or plastic container and stored in the fridge or freezer. Here at Christies' we use recyclable plastic containers or glass for our syrup. The plastic jugs can be put in the freezer or in the microwave, making them very versatile. Either way, once you open a container, it must be refrigerated

CAN MAPLE SYRUP BE MADE ANYWHERE?
No! Major producers are in Northeastern North America north of 35 degrees latitude and east of 95 degrees longitude.

WHEN DO YOU MAKE MAPLE SYRUP?
Only in the spring when we have temperatures rising into the 40’s (F) during the day and dropping below the freezing point at night. For us up here in the North Country, that is March and April.

HOW MUCH MAPLE SYRUP DOES ONE TREE PRODUCE?
Only about a quart in an entire season!

HOW MANY TAPS CAN YOU MAKE IN ONE TREE?
Our rule of thumb is one tap for 10-17 inches in diameter and two taps for anything over 17 inches.

WHAT IS AN EVAPORATOR?
An evaporator is very wide multi-channeled pan in which maple sap is boiled into maple syrup.

DO YOU PLANT YOUR SUGAR TREES?
No! Sugar maples take 40 years to be mature enough to tap and we aren’t that patient! As a rule, Sugarmakers go out into the woods and scout for groves where there is a natural concentration of mature Sugar Maples. (Hint: in sugarin’ language, a “grove” of sugar maples is called a sugarbush.)

DO YOU USE ANY CHEMICALS OF FORMALDEHYDE IN YOUR PROCESSING?
NO WAY!

IS ANYTHING MIXED IN MAPLE SYRUP TO MAKE IT SWEET?
No! It’s 100% natural. Absolutely nothing is added to what Mother Nature already created! See Nutritional Information for the details!

WHAT IS MUD SEASON?
The time of year when we make maple and everyone’s truck gets stuck in the mud. Up here in New Hampshire, it’s also the time of year we hold our town meetin’s.

WHAT THE HECK IS SUGAR SNOW?
That granular snow some folks call “corn snow” that comes from alternating temperatures of freezing and thawing. A sure sign of sugarin’ season. When we’re boiling we drizzle hot syrup on sugar snow to make lip-smackin’ maple taffy!

WHY WAS MAPLE SUGAR A FAVORITE OF 19TH CENTURY ABOLITIONISTS?
Many hoped it’s popularity would bring an end to the cane sugar industry and thus end West Indian slavery.

WHY IS IT CALLED SUGARING?
Because when people first starting evaporating maple sap they did not have jugs or tins to store their syrup. Instead, they boiled it into sugar and molded it into cakes.

WHAT DO VERMONT MAID®, AUNT JEMIMA®, AND MRS.BUTTERWORTH’S® HAVE IN COMMON?
None of them contain even an ounce of REAL maple syrup!

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