We tend to make our maple syrup overstrength, ranging from 70 percent solids to 72 percent solids, about two to four percent higher than Vermont recommends. We just like it that way, even though some sugar comes out of solution in the form of crystals over time. When consumed before that happens, though, the extra [...]

Back in 1982, the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station put together a large series of studies into one document to help sugar makers employ some of the more interesting recent findings. That document is available here. Some highlights: – A good deal of what we know (which is still pretty incomplete) about how and why sap [...]

There is an art to sending maple syrup, especially if you’re sending a large volume, and extra especially if you want to spend less on shipping than you do on making syrup. Decisions early in the process – such as which bottle shapes you use, and which sizes you offer customers – come to have [...]

After reading data from the a wide variety of overlapping sources, I made a stab at predicting the average price of syrup for 2009. You can skip the rest of this if you’re looking for the dollar figure. That’s $3.16 per pound, or $36 per gallon in 2009. I know that will disappoint many producers [...]

Different states will have slightly different terms sometimes, but syrup grade systems are essentially the same: they all are based solely on the color of the syrup, and the lighter the syrup the “higher” the grade. In Vermont, the grades start at Grade A Fancy and move on, in order, to Grade A Medium Amber, [...]