FAQs About Maple

Maple syrup is made by collecting sap from sugar maple trees in late winter and early spring, when freezing nights and warmer days create natural pressure inside the tree. The sap is mostly water with a small amount of natural sugar.

Once collected, the sap is boiled to remove excess water. As it concentrates, the natural sugars caramelize, creating the rich flavor and color we know as maple syrup. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup, depending on the sugar content of the sap.

At our farm, sap is collected, boiled, filtered, and bottled right on the farm. You can read more here.

Unopened maple syrup can be stored at room temperature, just like honey. To prevent spoilage do the following:

• Keep syrup refrigerated after opening
• Store in glass or food-safe containers
• Properly stored syrup can last up to a year (often longer)
• Maple syrup doesn't freeze, so the freezer is your best option.

Refrigeration prevents natural mold. There's a ton more to it; read more here.

For your convenience, the short, concise guide on the different maple syrup grades is as follows:

• Golden Delicate Taste: Maple syrup made from early-season sap, producing a light golden color that transmits greater than or equal to 75% of light through the syrup. You can expect a delicate and subtle maple flavor with hints of vanilla, baked apple, praline, and fresh butter.
• Amber Rich Taste: Maple syrup made from early to mid-season which transmits 50.0 to 74.9% of light through this light amber-colored syrup. Look for hints of bourbon, nutmeg, crème brûlée, oats, and rich maple when tasting this popular grade of pancake syrup.
• Dark Robust Taste: A dark amber maple syrup with a more robust maple flavor made from mid to late season, which by law must transmit 25.0 to 49.9% of light. This robust pancake syrup delivers hints of prunes, butterscotch, and cinnamon.
• Very Dark Strong Taste: Produced late in the sugaring season, this very dark syrup must transmit less than 25% of light. This powerful maple syrup is known by its fans for use in baking, look for overtones of toffee, apricot, and coffee when tasting this syrup.

Learn more about grades of maple syrup.

Maple syrup has long been considered a healthier alternative to industrially processed sweeteners such as refined sugars. Not only does it contain essential minerals like calcium, phosphorus, and antioxidants, which help to protect tooth enamel, but it also has a lower glycemic index than most other sweeteners, making it an excellent choice for those looking to maintain a healthy diet.

Although maple syrup is a popular natural sweetener, it can still be harmful if consumed in excessive amounts due to its high sugar content. Moderation of all sweets is highly recommended by not only us at the farm but likely your doctor as well! Always check with your doctor about your personal situation related to health and diet.

Read more about the qualities of maple syrup and compare it to processed white sugar.

The short answer is yes, real maple syrup contains nothing but tree sap, and our maple sap here at Carman Brook Farm is harvested on-site from the sugarbush surrounding the fields of our retired dairy farm. Over the years, society's understanding of gluten allergies has improved, and folks have finally diagnosed their ailments. We've had many customers reach out about difficulties in finding alternatives to their favorite foods, namely pancakes and waffles.

Maple syrup is a great natural and gluten-free product, but many of the traditional items we pour it over contain a hearty helping of gluten. Read more about the lack of gluten in maple products.

At its most basic, this question can be answered rather simply: during the spring months in the northern hemisphere, you drill a hole no deeper than 1.5 inches in a sugar maple tree and collect the sap that runs when temperatures freeze at night and thaw during the day.

There's a little more to it than that, so follow the link to learn all the ins and outs of tapping a maple tree.

Yes, we adhere to all of the latest guidelines on drop-line length, small tap diameter, only harvesting mature healthy trees, and never using more than two taps per tree to ensure our trees are healthy long into the future. You can read more about the science of sustainable practices on our farm.

Yes, we've recently upgraded our reverse osmosis machine which removes about 75% of the water using electricity rather than the fossil fuels that fire our evaporator. This has cut our fossil fuel usage by almost 40%.

Read more about how reverse osmosis is used on our farm here.

Maple cream is a delicious maple spread that can be used in many ways to add sweetness and flavor to your meals. It has a velvety texture, similar to creamy peanut butter, making it perfect for spreading on toast, muffins, donuts, or sugar cookies.

Maple cream is made from a single ingredient, pure maple syrup. The only ingredients are time, temperature manipulation, and stirring at critical points. Born of just a few simple steps, this spreadable maple syrup can be used as a topping for your favorite desserts, or all on its own.

Read more about how we produce maple cream from our farm's maple syrup here.