From Sap to Syrup.
Nothing Hidden.

Every tap is a decision. We drill at a slight upward angle — exactly 5/8 of an inch — into sugar maples that have been resting since October. A good tree gives 10–20 gallons of sap over a season. We never tap a trunk under 10 inches across.

Our 340-acre sugarbush has 2,400 taps across a hillside that faces southeast. That orientation matters: the morning sun warms the bark, starts sap moving, then the cold night refreezes it. That pressure differential is what drives the flow.

Fresh sap is barely sweet — about 2% sugar, almost indistinguishable from cold spring water. It spoils like milk. We collect every morning during the run, transferring from buckets into a 1,000-gallon stainless tank on the sled behind the tractor.

The brix refractometer tells us exactly where we are. A reading of 1.8–2.2° Brix is ideal for early-season runs. Once it climbs past 2.5° and starts tasting faintly "buddy" — that green, slightly fermented edge — we know the season is ending.

We run a wood-fired evaporator with two flat pans: the flue pan where sap enters and steam erupts, and the finishing syrup pan where concentration happens. The fire burns 10–15 cords of hardwood per season. You can hear the boil change pitch as the density climbs.

Syrup is finished at 7°F above the boiling point of water — which changes with elevation and barometric pressure, so we calibrate the thermometer every single day. At 219°F we draw off. A hydrometer confirms density: 66.9° Brix. Anything under is "light syrup." Anything over risks crystallizing in the jar.

The USDA grades maple syrup by color and flavor intensity: Golden Delicate, Amber Rich, Dark Robust, and Very Dark Strong. Early-season syrup runs pale gold — subtle, almost floral. Late-season goes deep mahogany — molasses-forward, complex. We hold both.

We use a certified color grading kit — a set of glass vials matched to USDA Pantone standards. Each batch gets a visual grade before bottling. The difference between a Golden and a Dark isn't just color; it's a completely different flavor profile. We let visitors taste the comparison.

Finished syrup is filtered through a felt filter press to remove the naturally occurring "sugar sand" (nitre). We hot-pack at 185°F into glass — never plastic — seal immediately, and invert the jar to sterilize the lid. Every jar gets a hand-written batch number.

Our smallest batch this season was 11 jars — a single bucket run from one old sugar maple at the top of the ridge. Batch SB-26-047. We tasted it three times before we labeled it. Guests who arrive during bottling can watch the entire line and take home a jar still warm from the fill.