red vs sugar maple

[wall hollow]

I was at a syrup operation today and they had a sign saying that soft maples bud earlier than hards and produce a bitter tasting syrup. I have tapped 100% sugars for 4 years, than moved and tap 100% reds for 3 years now. I have never seen a bitter tasting syrup. I do not notice a difference in taste. Anyone have any issue with tapping reds. Is it only late in the season that reds might produce bitter syrup while the sugar maples may still produce good syrup?

[jmayerl]

You shouldn't believe everything other people tell you, sometimes you are smarter than them.....

[happy thoughts]

Soft maples do bud earlier than hard maples but that's as far as I'd go in agreement with whoever told you reds produce bitter syrup. I tap all sugars now. Before I tapped all reds. Both produce great syrup. Can't say I notice much difference in taste other than sugars tend to have sweeter sap so it takes less sap to make a gallon of syrup. I certainly wouldn't hesitate to tap reds again.

[heus]

Sounds like they believe the myth that many old timers around here still believe: You can't tap reds and especially can't tap silvers. Just like RO syrup tastes different than non ro'd syrup.

[Ausable]

Sugar and Black Maples just have a higher sugar content is all. Takes less sap to make Maple Syrup. Anything in the maple family with a sugar content in the sap - will work just fine for Maple Syrup. I like this Site as it helps folks cut through some of the B.S. that is out there. Hey! Have Fun and make lots of maple syrup.

[Sandersyrup]

I've read a lot of posts on here about red maples and it almost seems like most people who have a lot if experience with both red maple and sugar maple prefer red maple for its unique nutty (not remotely bitter) flavor and the sugar maple is preferred for its vastly better production of classic yummy syrup.

My Norway maples run 3% sugar and are very similar I flavor to Sugar maple.

[Vermonner]

Maybe 1/4 of our 1100 taps are reds. We don't feel as though they bring an early end to our season or adversely affect our syrup flavor. In fact, we believe they are an asset to our operation allowing us to tap more tress and produce more sap (though their sugar content is lower).

[Russell Lampron]

Of my 800 taps probably 650 of them are reds. I have noticed that the sugar content isn't that much lower than that of the sugars but the quantity of sap is a lot less even on vacuum. I like the flavor of the syrup that I produce and so do my customers. No one has ever said that it was bitter.

[billyinvt]

To revive an old thread. It got nice and cold last night and forecast is even colder tonight. The sap should run. I have just a few red maples in my bush that look like they are starting to pop. Should I dump the sap from these trees?

[GeneralStark]

In my experience red maples will just stop producing and don't really have an impact on "buddy" flavor in syrup. If you are still getting sap from them with buckets, I would say boil it.

[Zucker Lager]

We tap only reds and a very small operation but I wanted to actually "test" the bitter / buddy taste theory and this year I left a tap in late and collected the very small amount of sap that the red was still giving. The sap coming directly from the tree actually started to turn a yellowish color after a few days and when I did smell and taste it it had only a slight vegetable? maybe a woody taste no "bad" off odor and no bitterness. Still learning but I think I'm going with General Stark's theory on tapping reds. Jay

[crazyjackcsa]

I tap reds, simply because I have to! The reds have always just stopped producing well before the sap goes bad. As others have said, there's just more boiling to do. My reds flow a lot more than my other maples, so if you don't mind boiling, it all evens out.

[Clinkis]

Heard all the same stories about reds but this year decided to tap one and was pleasantly surprised. Was one of my highest producers and sugar content well over 3%. And, as others have said, it just quit producing when buds started to burst

[Russell Lampron]

I have boiled sap from reds after they had flowered. The flavor was fine but the syrup was ropey. It is rare that the reds will still produce sap when they are that far into budding. I have never tasted buddy syrup and have been making syrup for 15 years. I always go until the end too.

[GeneralStark]

The reds have visually budded here in the last 24 hours. I can still see that they are giving sap (on 27.5" of vac.) as I am using clear spouts. I made over 10 gallons of syrup (dark robust) this evening and there is no off flavor. I was actually very surprised at the quality of the syrup given that yesterday's had very strong flavor and come to find out today when I pulled the filter press apart today, was ever so slightly ropey. That was due to the sap fermenting from warm overnight temps., not the red maples.

[sapman]

I have felt that my soft maples do give off flavored syrup near the end. Seems like a day or so before they flower out it starts going. The steam will stink. But this year I turned them off and just went on the smaller sugar maple stand. Still didn't make good syrup. Maybe it was the heat. The softs do keep running under high vacuum tho not nearly as well as the sugar maples.