Are you afraid of the dark?
The Chap over at flavorchase makes a very sugar rich maple syrup. He says it is around 70 to 72 percent solid. This causes the maple syrup to crystallize much easier than the normal maple syrup. I think it also makes it darker in colour.
I have always like light maple syrup, it is also the hardest to make. I was surprised by Tig’s results from his online survey:
“When asked both if they knew their preferences well and whether they liked lighter or darker maple syrup, the folks who indicated they knew their preferences mostly said darker maple syrup, perhaps by a 2-1 ratio.” – flavor chase blog
I thought this was crazy until I found an old report on consumer preference for graded maple syrup (1978). In it they test about 1000 housewives on 4 grades of maple syrup and one table syrup. Interestingly enough their study reviled that people do prefer darker syrup to lighter syrup. Here are some highlights:
Grade B was preferred over Grade A, 49 to 27 percent
Over one-half (53 percent) of the participants preferred Log Cabin and less than
one-fourth (23 percent) preferred Grade AA syrup
Dissatisfaction with pouring consistency decreases with darker syrups and correlates with actual density of the syrups tested. Although all pure maple syrups, in theory, have the same density, variation inevitably occurs between batches. The densities of the syrups in this study were Grade AA, 65.4 percent solids; Grade A, 66.0 percent; and Grade B, 67.6 percent. Log Cabin syrup, which is about the same density as pure maple, appears thicker because it contains corn syrup which is more viscous.
I know this is a very old study but it does show that more people in this study do prefer darker syrup. The study also shows that people in syrup producing regions seem to like table syrup rather than anything else.
I don’t put much sock in this study 
Trying to verify
There are a number of things that have happened in the last little while. First of all I someone in Vermont has a great maple syrup blog, His operation is called Tillinghast Maple . The sugar shack has been around for about for a really long time, has some great pictures on there. Tig also asked a great question about one of my earlier posts,
“I bought some syrups a few days ago at a
nearby store and I would swear that one of them tastes like cane sugar.
I’m wondering if there’s some sort of a simple test one might use to
determine that.”
Great question and I wish that I had an answer, truth is that I have not had cane sugar before so I can’t make a judgment. I know that true maple syrup does not freeze so you could test it that way, also I know that Maple Syrup crystallizes after a while (which can easily be fixed by heating it up). Both of these things are not really simple test, for all I know cane sugar does the same thing.
On my travels trying to find the answer to this question I ran into a better version of the labeling guidelines by the Canadian food inspection agency, you see if some of the regulations have been followed but again this is not really that simple.
Another thing it could be is Cane Sugar and Maple Syrup, I found this product.
Looks like it could be a blend, kind of like cutting drugs to make them worth more. I’ll Keep my ears open for more info on this.
Syrup Slumps – Bad production season
Well It turns out that this year was pretty bad for everyone, not just Sugar Island Maple Grove.
A recent article in the Ottawa citizen show that there was an industry slump in both Maple Syrup Production and Honey production.
you can read the full article here.
Canada production was down from 5.1 million gallons last year to 4.9 million gallons of maple syrup this year, a 4.8% drop in production. The main culprit was of course the weather, even though I think ours was more of the stack!
This however drives the price of syrup up as there in more demand than supply. So if you are an independent producer of maple syrup SELL NOW!
Christmas is a perfect time to sell maple syrup because many people want to give it as gifts in addition to regular consumption. Once Christmas is over I feel that the price will drop again until the end of the year. Kind of like the price of pumkins in the simpsons.
Real Maple Syrup
Maple Syrup is one of the best gifts to give at Christmas. It is compact, decedent and at a great price point. It is perfect for the person who has everything because you can always use more Maple Syrup.
I was shopping at the mall the other day and found some maple syrup for sale. Naturally I took a look at it to see what grade it was and what price they were selling it at. The price tag I found but that was about it.
The laws governing maple syrup production in Canada state that:
12. (1) Every container of maple syrup that is graded under these Regulations shall bear a label marked
(a) with the words “maple syrup” and “sirop d’érable”;
(b) with the grade name on the same panel as the name of the product and in letters of a size set out in Schedule IV;
(c) with the name of the colour class in English and French adjacent to the grade name and in letters of a size set out in Schedule IV;
(d) with a true and correct declaration of net quantity expressed in litres or, where less than one litre, in millilitres;
(e) with
(i) the name and address of the sugar bush establishment, the packing establishment or the maple syrup shipper establishment, or
(ii) the name and address of the first dealer and the registration number of the packing establishment.
Some of these regulations pertain to other section of the act (12.1.c) but I wanted to put these laws up verbatim.
If you see Maple Syrup that does not follow these regulations then you might not be buying the best maple syrup. Let the store clerk know that what they are selling might not be legal, they most likely did not know them selves.
It is great to know exactly what you are getting when you buy Maple Syrup. If you want to find out a bit more about maple syrup regulations in Canada you can always check out the following links:
Alcohol and Maple Syrup
I found this story on the financial post of all places. It talks about locally produced products in Quebec and we all know how amazing Quebecois are at the maple syrup business.
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=1023597
What really peaked my interst was the when they mention Sortilège a maple syrup liqueur made by
Maison des Futailles
it looks like a fine treat that I would love to try.
