We weren’t sure what the sign outside Sprague & Son Sugar house meant, but 30 minutes later we walked out, our veins singing in maple euphoria. LP, HA and I were in Whitingham, VT, where sugar makers were welcoming guests for the 14th Annual Maple Festival.
My prior knowledge of maple syrup was sparse. I understood only that Aunt Jemima and Mrs. Butterworth---lovely ladies whom I remember fondly from childhood---are lacking a little pure maple under their syrup aprons, if you know what I mean.
We had heard rumors in town that Vermont pure maple syrup would be in short supply this year. One store owner told us to buy it up if we saw it before prices soared. At Sprague & Sons, though, there seem to be plenty enough to get our sugar highs on and take some home too.
And, what a relief to know we didn’t miss out! Moments after we walked through the door into the steamy wooden A-frame, Karen Sprague handed us samples of maple spread. It was delightfully sweet and rich. She suggested spreading it on salmon before grilling or using it as a toast topper, either alone or with cream cheese.
I asked Karen about the shiny contraption in the center of the large room and was treated to an engaging tutorial about sugar-making. I was surprised to learn that I wouldn’t recognize sap from a tree unless someone told me what it is. I suppose that’s fair, being a city-girl and all.
Sap is mostly water--by sight and first taste. The contraption is an evaporator that takes the sap through a series of tanks until it comes out as syrup. This is quite a process because the sap, which is only 2 percent sugar, is transformed into a syrup that is 67 percent sweet stuff. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. Wow!
Karen then gestured to a display of small glass bottles in three windows, each representing a year from 2010 to 2012. The hue of the syrup jumped around light gold to various degrees of amber--this natural variant is all under Mother Nature's purview. You never know what you might get on any given day. (There is a great photo of the bottles by Craig Bradley on the Sprague & Son Facebook page.)
What struck us about the display was that there were far fewer bottles in 2010 than 2011 or 2012. 2010 was the worst year on record for Vermont sugar makers. (We would later learn that sugar quantities are typically affected by events that occur two years prior.)
Karen explained that much of the current season’s bounty was attributable to their watchful eye on the weather. They started this year's tapping in early February when they saw the mercury reaching optimal sap temperatures--above freezing during the day and below freezing at night. The temperatures and the tap cause a pressure-suction relationship that leads to good sap production and harvesting--a process best explained by scientists.)
The season usually begins in mid-March, but when we were there this past weekend, it was already over because of the early Spring warming in New England. It’s the first time in memory that the tap season has ended before March 30.
Karen then poured us mini-shots of the four different grades of Vermont maple syrup: fancy syrup, grade A medium-amber, grade A dark amber, and Grade B. The fancy was sweet but without much complexity. The flavor deepened and grew more complex as the amber became darker. Karen likened the natural processes that make this happen and people's affinity for one taste or another to cheese or wine.
Although I was completely sugared up, LP and HA decided they couldn’t leave without trying sugar on snow--warm maple syrup poured onto on a bed of machine-made “snow” served with pickles. Although it was really neat, it was a little texturally challenging.
While they munched and I idled, we learned about the different taps used throughout the years from a friendly gentleman who worked with the Spragues. The first taps were large wood pegs which damaged the trees. Sugar makers switched to metal taps, but the early ones contained lead, which wasn't good for the trees or for us. Eventually the taps evolved into plastic, and now the trees heal after they’re pulled.
We asked apologetically about whether there were "competitor" sugar houses in the area that we could visit. Our host told us that sugar makers don't consider each other competitors. They each have their own style.
I didn’t think much about this until we arrived at Dix. Their style was more moonshine-in-the-woods. And sure enough, I took a sip of their grade B maple syrup and declared, “This would be great for cocktails!” My enthusiasm inspired a few chuckles and an admiring nod from the maple master, and LP and I soon learned that we shared an appreciation for whiskey with the sugar makers.
LP asked about the blue tubes among the trees outside which were different than the clear tubing we saw earlier. Dix's maple master told us proudly that it was a new system. They also use an innovative reverse osmosis chamber that sits in the loft above the evaporation tank and reduces the time needed to turn sap into syrup from eight hours to two. While chatting we sampled their delicious maple ice cream.
What a wonderful day in Vermont! I think I'm still running on that maple high. Perhaps it will last me through the hectic week already underway!
If not, I have two pints of maple syrup, a jar of maple butter, decadent dark chocolate peanut-butter cups from the Country Store in Wilmington, and pickles and relish from Lyman's. I think I'm set!
Before I sign off, I just need to give a shout out to Jezebel's in Wilmington, VT for serving up a fabulous eats. If the food is enough to get you in the door, the hospitality will make you want to stay. Lovely folks serving the tables as well as behind and in front of the bar. And Jezebel makes several mean mustards. Don't ask for any recipes though! Just enjoy it while you're there!
 |
We had heard rumors in town that Vermont pure maple syrup would be in short supply this year. One store owner told us to buy it up if we saw it before prices soared. At Sprague & Sons, though, there seem to be plenty enough to get our sugar highs on and take some home too.
And, what a relief to know we didn’t miss out! Moments after we walked through the door into the steamy wooden A-frame, Karen Sprague handed us samples of maple spread. It was delightfully sweet and rich. She suggested spreading it on salmon before grilling or using it as a toast topper, either alone or with cream cheese.
I asked Karen about the shiny contraption in the center of the large room and was treated to an engaging tutorial about sugar-making. I was surprised to learn that I wouldn’t recognize sap from a tree unless someone told me what it is. I suppose that’s fair, being a city-girl and all.
 |
| Sprague & Sons Sugar House |
Karen then gestured to a display of small glass bottles in three windows, each representing a year from 2010 to 2012. The hue of the syrup jumped around light gold to various degrees of amber--this natural variant is all under Mother Nature's purview. You never know what you might get on any given day. (There is a great photo of the bottles by Craig Bradley on the Sprague & Son Facebook page.)
What struck us about the display was that there were far fewer bottles in 2010 than 2011 or 2012. 2010 was the worst year on record for Vermont sugar makers. (We would later learn that sugar quantities are typically affected by events that occur two years prior.)
Karen explained that much of the current season’s bounty was attributable to their watchful eye on the weather. They started this year's tapping in early February when they saw the mercury reaching optimal sap temperatures--above freezing during the day and below freezing at night. The temperatures and the tap cause a pressure-suction relationship that leads to good sap production and harvesting--a process best explained by scientists.)
The season usually begins in mid-March, but when we were there this past weekend, it was already over because of the early Spring warming in New England. It’s the first time in memory that the tap season has ended before March 30.
Karen then poured us mini-shots of the four different grades of Vermont maple syrup: fancy syrup, grade A medium-amber, grade A dark amber, and Grade B. The fancy was sweet but without much complexity. The flavor deepened and grew more complex as the amber became darker. Karen likened the natural processes that make this happen and people's affinity for one taste or another to cheese or wine.
 |
| Sugar on Snow |
While they munched and I idled, we learned about the different taps used throughout the years from a friendly gentleman who worked with the Spragues. The first taps were large wood pegs which damaged the trees. Sugar makers switched to metal taps, but the early ones contained lead, which wasn't good for the trees or for us. Eventually the taps evolved into plastic, and now the trees heal after they’re pulled.
We asked apologetically about whether there were "competitor" sugar houses in the area that we could visit. Our host told us that sugar makers don't consider each other competitors. They each have their own style.
 |
| Dix Sugar House |
LP asked about the blue tubes among the trees outside which were different than the clear tubing we saw earlier. Dix's maple master told us proudly that it was a new system. They also use an innovative reverse osmosis chamber that sits in the loft above the evaporation tank and reduces the time needed to turn sap into syrup from eight hours to two. While chatting we sampled their delicious maple ice cream.
What a wonderful day in Vermont! I think I'm still running on that maple high. Perhaps it will last me through the hectic week already underway!
If not, I have two pints of maple syrup, a jar of maple butter, decadent dark chocolate peanut-butter cups from the Country Store in Wilmington, and pickles and relish from Lyman's. I think I'm set!
Before I sign off, I just need to give a shout out to Jezebel's in Wilmington, VT for serving up a fabulous eats. If the food is enough to get you in the door, the hospitality will make you want to stay. Lovely folks serving the tables as well as behind and in front of the bar. And Jezebel makes several mean mustards. Don't ask for any recipes though! Just enjoy it while you're there!
Comments
Post a Comment