Spring is coming and the sap is rising in the trees. It’s maple syrup season here in Maine! Join me on a tour of some classic “sugar shacks”!
Maple Syrup
Do you like maple syrup?
I’m not talking about the overly sweet artificial stuff from the grocery store.
I mean the small-batch, dark, buttery, and intensely flavorful kind.
Did you know that compared to refined white sugar, pure maple syrup is high in antioxidants and contains important nutrients such as zinc and manganese? Or that it could help reduce inflammation and improve digestion?!
On top of all that, it tastes amazing — providing depth of flavor, and not just sweetness, to anything you add it to.
I am lucky to live in a state with hundreds of small family maple syrup producers. In fact, Maine is the third largest maple syrup-producing state, behind Vermont and New York.
And this is the time of year when they are harvesting sap and turning it into that delicious liquid amber!
How Do You Make Maple Syrup?
You can make maple syrup the old fashioned way — tap into a maple tree, hang a bucket to catch the sap, and then boil it down in a pot on your stove.
But while the basic concept hasn’t changed, modern equipment has made it more efficient and easier for maple syrup producers to collect and process larger quantities of sap.
Collecting the Sap
The sap starts to rise in maple trees when daytime temperatures rise above, and nighttime temps fall below, freezing. Here in Maine that is generally somewhere between late February and early March.
Instead of the traditional bucket, most maple syrup producers now use a network of tubing to collect the sap. The tubing is attached to a tap in the maple tree and the sap then flows through the tubing to a centralized collection vat.
While this collection method certainly isn’t as picturesque as the old wooden or tin buckets hanging from trees, it is certainly more efficient.
And, well, the buckets are made of plastic these days anyway.
Depending on size, a tree can have between one and three taps. Each tap produces 10-20 gallons of sap in a season.
Turning Sap into Syrup
Once the sap is collected, it is time to turn it into the delicious stuff!
Whether you boil the sap in a pot or in a large high-tech evaporator, the goal at this point is the same: remove water from the sap to concentrate it. Maple sap is generally 2-3% sugar, while Maple syrup is 66% sugar. Boiling the sap releases water in the form of steam. It generally takes 40 gallons of sap to produce just one gallon of syrup.
The cooking process also enhances the flavor and aroma of the sugars, resulting in that deep buttery maple taste!
Some modern evaporators are wood fired, and others use oil or propane.
After the maple syrup is done cooking, it goes through a filter system to remove impurities and turn it into the clear amber liquid we know so well!
Maine Maple Sunday
Each year on the fourth weekend in March, maple sugar producers, also know as sugar houses or shacks, throughout Maine open to the public for demonstrations, tours, and, of course, tastings!
This was the second year I joined in on the fun — driving the back roads and slopping my way through the ubiquitous March mud. All for a small shot of pure deliciousness!
The Sugar Shacks
We visited four sugar shacks this year. Each had a little something different to offer!
Beaver Hill Plantation
This is a three generation enterprise. They have 1700 taps and produce between 350 and 500 gallons a season in their wood-burning evaporator.
Shop for their maple syrup on their website here, and have a little bit of Maine delivered right to your door!
Sweet Freedom Maple Syrup
I love the cheery red roof on this place!
Sparky’s Honey and Maple
Sparky’s produces both maple syrup and honey products. You can see that they also have a wood-burning evaporator.
Seaside Sugar Shack
As it’s name suggests, this place is located right on the water! It was the only place with a view of the ocean from the evaporator room! It was also the only place we visited that still harvests the sap in individual buckets the old fashioned way.
The Lost Kitchen
Not a sugar shack, but of course when we were in Freedom, we had to swing by the world famous Lost Kitchen restaurant for a look. They are not open for the season yet, and unfortunately their store was not open either. Read about the Lost Kitchen in my blog post One Winter Week in Maine.
Sweet Bounty
Of course I didn’t come home empty-handed!
In addition to a couple bottles of my favorite syrup, I also picked up a loaf of maple-cinnamon-raisin bread, a maple whoopie pie (the whoopie pie is Maine’s “official state treat”), maple covered cashews, and a jar of maple sugar. I couldn’t pass up a small bottle of bourbon maple syrup — maple syrup flavored in an old bourbon barrel!
Maple Syrup Recipes
When my son Jack was in high school, he was eating a breakfast of french toast slathered in maple syrup. Something he said, led me to reply “Maybe you don’t like maple syrup.” He had just assumed that everyone likes maple syrup! He hasn’t really eaten it since. t
Unlike Jack, I love maple syrup! I use it to sweeten and flavor my breakfast oatmeal every morning in winter.
I add it to my homemade granola. You can find my granola recipe in my blog post Easy Homemade Granola Breakfast Apple Crisp
My grandfather was famous for his “Oh Boy Waffles” — topped with maple syrup, of course! My sister still has the recipe card for these waffles in Gramps’ handwriting!
This Maple Walnut Bread Pudding from King Arthur sounds pretty heavenly!
Maple syrup isn’t just tasty in sweet recipes, it also adds depth of flavor and a hint of sweetness to savory foods — salad dressings, meat rubs, and vegetable dishes!
Here are some links to sites with a variety of recipes which feature maple syrup:
How do you like to eat your maple syrup? I have to admit it was pretty darn tasty straight up from a little shot glass!
If you want to read more about classic Maine delicacies, check out my blog posts Wild About Maine (Wild) Blueberries and The Best Little Lobster Shack in Maine!
Another Sweet Thing
While we are on the subject of sweet things, it is with great joy and enormous love that I share the arrival of our second grandchild! Poppy Mayberry was born two weeks early on Monday night, weighing just 5 lbs 8 oz. She is perfect in every way, though, and I am already in love!
I am off to DC next week to meet her in person and help out the new parents.
I will try to pull a blog post together for next Saturday, but I might not be able to get it done before I leave.
So maybe I will see you here next week, but maybe I won’t!
Regardless, I hope you have a sweet week!
Thank you for joining me for Maine Maple Sunday!
This brought back so many memories of our time living in the North Country (NNY) and maple syrup season along with the proverbial mud season. After having “the real thing”, store bought syrup is just blah. Your Saturday blog is something I look forward to all week. Don’t worry about next week, just enjoy little Poppy. From maple syrup to new grandbabies…so much sweetness to embrace.
Thank you so much, Julie! I am so glad you enjoyed this post! Yes, maple syrup and mud season are so quintessentially New England! And such a harbinger of spring. There is absolutely nothing like “real” maple syrup! I hope you have a great week!
Maple syrup marinaded salmon, then broiled. Delicious.
Now I am hungry….oatmeal, walnuts, dried cranberries and maple syrup for me!
Yum! Sounds delicious! Enjoy!
Molly, congratulations! How exciting to have a new granddaughter. I am sure the trip will be lovely and wonderful help to the parents.
Your grandfathers waffles sound delicious! Do you mind if I try the recipe?
As for maple syrup, I love it on waffles and pancakes and oatmeal too. This is such a fun post, I love reading and seeing the sugar shacks. I will agree the tubing does not look as ascetically or historically pleasing the buckets.
Have a wonderful weekend and a safe trip!
Hi Elizabeth! Thank you! I am so looking forward to the trip! I share the recipe card for anyone to try! I love the way it was called “salad oil” back then! At least the tubing is my favorite color — blue! I hope you have a wonderful week too!
Thank you for such an interesting post. I love maple syrup. Congratulations on your new granddaughter, and safe travels.
Hi Miche! Thank you for reading my post. I am glad you enjoyed it! I am so excited to my my little Poppy girl!
The best season! I love getting it when we are up in Vermont!
Hi Stacy! Small-batch pure maple syrup is the best! I always get enough to last all year long!
Hi Molly, I too love Maple Syrup on my oatmeal along with walnuts and apples..so good.
Enjoy your trip to meet Poppy.
Thank you, Joyce! I am so looking forward to the trip!
What a great post. I loved every minute of it while sitting by the fire. Congratulations on your new granddaughter. How wonderful. She has the best name ever.
Hi Renae! I am so happy you enjoyed this post! Sounds like a cozy day for you! And yes, my daughter and son-in-law chose a great name!
Hi Molly I love maple
Syrup this time of the year too. Dorset maple syrup in VT is my favorite. Aged bourbon. So amazing. Great with cheddar cheese too 🧀
I love the idea of syrup with cheddar cheese! I love maple syrup all year round! Thanks for saying hi!
What a fun blog! I have never had real maple syrup and you have encouraged me to order and try some with your waffle recipe. Someday I am coming to Maine. What a beautiful state. Thank you for sharing with us!
Oh, you have surely been missing out if you have never had real maple syrup! It is so yummy! And definitely give my grandfather’s waffles a try!
Love this post! I have never witnessed the tapping process but it’s on my bucket list along with eating an authentic lobster roll! I have ordered maple syrup from Finding Home Farms which is located in upstate NY. Congrats on that new grand baby!
Hi Jane! Visiting the sugar shacks is so fun, but it is not a time of year I would recommend coming to Maine, haha! You saw the mud in some of those photos! Summer is the perfect time to come for a visit — and a lobster roll!
What a fun trip today for all of us thanks to your photos and text! I too add maple syrup to granola and icing on my cinnamon rolls. So envious of you to enjoy a new grand baby with lots of snuggles and kisses!
Hi Vikki! Thanks for joining me on my maple syrup outing! It is such fun, and so very Maine! I had lots of snuggles with Poppy, but miss her now! Hopefully I will see her again soon!
Hey Molly! Have a wonderful time with little Poppy – best name! And thanks for the interesting article about maple syrup.
Hi Gray! Poppy is every bit as sweet as her name! And thanks for reading about my maple syrup outing!
I love maple syrup and have it everyday on my oatmeal! Living in Wisconsin the maple season is in full swing.
Congratulations on the birth of Poppy! Such a darling name. Enjoy your special time visiting this new blessing!
Hi Karen! Fresh small-batch maple syrup is the yummiest! And thank you! I had the best visit with sweet little Poppy!
Maple syrup is big here too. Some of my friends just tap a few trees and some have big productions. It was fun the times I’ve been able to join in and hang out in the sugar shacks! This was fun to read Molly!! I’m sharing it in my weekly round up too for my followers to enjoy!
Hi, Kristin! Maple sugar season is such fun! Thanks so much for sharing on your blog!
Molly
This is all so interesting! I hope you have safe travels and don’t spoil the new grand baby. Ha ha.
It is such a fun day visiting the sugar shacks! And grandbabies are meant to be spoiled, haha!
it sounds like such a fun day and my i would like to drive around and taste the different syrups. i would love to join you sometime but maybe you will have some left when i come to visit. loved hearing how it is made and as always just love your pictures! thanks for the tour!
It is not the best time of year, but it is all very Maine, haha!
What a great post, Molly. All we ever talk about here is salmon and apples. I would love to take a trip some of these years to visit maple syrup country.
Thanks for reading my post, Kim! Maple sugar weekend is fun, but it is certainly not the best time of year to visit Maine. Did you see all that mud?! Come in the summer for lobster and blueberries!