What did you have for breakfast this morning? By any chance was it pancakes or something similar that you poured maple syrup over? Let me tell you something that might surprise you about maple syrup. More Below:


First, maple trees are not the only trees one could tap in order to get syrup. Second, trees do not produce syrup at all!

Confused? Read on but before you do - if you poured that fake syrup on your pancakes this morning, shame on you! Ok, I’m joking but real maple syrup is much better for you and even contains some minerals and vitamins that the fake stuff does not. And it tastes better.

Maple syrup is the product of boiling sap that has been “tapped” from maple trees.

In the spring time, Sugar Maple trees are “tapped,” that is, a hole is made into the tree and a “tap” is inserted into the tree. During the time of the year when the nights are below freezing but the days are above freezing is generally the best time of year to tap a Maple Tree. It is during this season when the “sap” is running from the roots of the tree up the trunk and throughout the branches and that will provide the energy and nutrients for the tree to begin creating leaves.

Generally speaking, it requires about 40 gallons of sap, the consistency of something like water to make 1 gallon of tasty maple syrup. How is the sap made into water? Ah, I can remember as a wee immigrant boy from Northern Ireland, and living in a farm house in Canada watching my neighbours in the spring making maple syrup - what a fun - and tasty time that was! Traditionally, each day the sap is collected from pails that are collecting the sap as it drips out the “tap” and the pails of sap are added to a large cauldron hanging above a fire that needs to be kept going 24 hours a day. As the water is boiled off from the sap, the sweet syrup is left over and then of course bottled, made into other maple syrup products, or for kids like I was, drunk immediately after it had cooled! So delicious!

You can make syrup from other trees, but Sugar Maples provide the best ratio for efficiency and has a preferred taste. However, some people enjoy Birch Syrup - but I’m told it takes about 80 gallons of Birch Tree syrup to make a gallon of sap.

Next time you’re enjoying maple syrup, you’ll know how much sap it took to make the amount of syrup you’re consuming.

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