When The Blue Bird Days On The Slopes Are Followed By The Sweetest Afternoons!

Last week we had a great morning on the mountain! Okemo to be exact.

The sky was blue, the temps were warm, the new boots and skis from Tygart Mountain Sports (because one obviously needs to jump on the end of season discounts) were fast and made us look even faster.

You know what we’re talking about, It was one of those perfect days where you didn’t want to bring that 70’s retro orange bubble down over the lift.

While the skiing was almost a perfect spring day, the magic was just beginning.

Jumping in the jeep and we are off. Where to, you ask? Well, we received a special invite to go take part in a full boil in the backwood of Vermont. Question was, would we make it up the unplowed road that we were told not to go up. It was honestly the smarter move to take the warning and drive the longer way around. C’mon though, that’s not why we have Jeeps.

Did we make it? We did! Was it a close “almost didn’t make it?”, it was.

Anywho, as stated, we made it. And there was Pat and his dog Charlie waiting for us in the driveway. The sun coming through the trees and behind him was this gorgeous raw wood building. Smoke just beginning to come out the chimney and inside we would find hundreds of gallons of sap, and then hundreds more, and a few hundred more on top of that.

Sap that will be boiled down and turned into the tastiest of all tastes, the richest of all riches, the smoothest of all smoothes - do you get how good this stuff was going to be???

As I was saying, hundreds of gallons of sap, boiled down into the best of all syrups around! And actually, more than hundreds because it’s 2000 gallons of sap a day to be exact!

Now, back in 6th grade, I was quite the sap farmer myself. We tapped at least two trees and would get a gallon or two of sap. Start the wood stove in my friends back yard, and boil it down. One of those organic in the element sugar farmers.

One of two things then happened, we would forget about it and it would boil down into a hard brittle burnt mess and we would throw the pot away before his mother found it - or we would boil it down, strain it and pretty much drink it. Needless to say, not only do I now know all the steps we missed, but it was unfortunately the end of our maple syrup days.

Fast forward to now, and there we were, at Old City Syrup.

What we learned in a short hour and a half was the entire process, the reverse osmosis, the boiling points, the proper temperature you want the valve to open. Releasing that delicious organic energy juice. The 10 piece pressure filter, the thickness that you want the syrup to be. All the things that make the best syrup, well, the best! so many steps that have to be done as if you are a well oiled machine. One wrong step, temperature not controlled, sap boiling over, to thick, not thick enough. ALL THE THINGS… This process at Old City Syrup though, needless to say Pat has it down pat! (HAH, Pat has it down Pat. I crack myself up, and yes, I’m a bit of a dork. )

Seriously, the best syrup I have ever tasted was fresh out of the pot, fresh from that boil right in front of us, the warmth, the sweetness, not much can top that….

Anyway while you won’t be able to visit Old City Syrup this weekend for the special open weekend with all the syrup makers (this is because most cars wouldn’t be able to get to his place) - You can visit many others.

Check out this link to find a map of all the open sugar houses that you can visit.

Most of all, ENJOY VERMONT!

Short and Sweet

• It takes roughly 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup
• Maple sap is mostly crystal-clear water with about 2% sugar content.
• A typical sugaring season lasts 4 to 6 weeks. A pattern of freezing and thawing temperatures (below freezing at night and 40-45 degrees Fahrenheit during the day) will build up pressure within the trees causing the sap to flow from the tap holes.
• Sugaring season ends when the warmer days of late spring cause the leaf buds to unfold.
• Vermont produces roughly 50% of the United States crop. 2.22 million gallons made in 2020! A record season.
• A tree needs to be about 40 years (10-12 inches in diameter) to be large enough to tap.
• Some large maple trees in Vermont sugarbushes are over 200 years old!

How Sap is Turned into Maple Syrup

• The process starts with drilling a tap hole into a maple tree. A spout is inserted to direct the sap to either a bucket or into tubing that sends the sap to a large collection tank at the sugar house or a central collection area using a vacuum pump.

• From the storage tanks, the sap is often put through a reverse osmosis machine, which takes a percentage of the water from the sap before boiling. The evaporation process sends clouds of sweet maple scented steam billowing from the sugarhouse cupolas and steam stacks. An evaporator is where the boiling takes place. Stainless steel pans sit atop an arch, or firebox, where either oil or wood creates an intense fire. As the water in the sap evaporates, the sap thickens.

• When the thermometer in the pan reaches 219 degrees the syrup is ready to draw off. Even though it looks like the finished product it will still need to be filtered, adjusted for density and graded for flavor and color.

_{These how to’s are also from the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers}

_{Enjoy your syrup!}