Anyone tapping Walnuts?

[acerrubrum]

A friend of mine said I could tap a few of his yard Walnuts for syrup. I'm familiar with Maples, but was wondering if anyone here could tell me when a good time to tap them is (maybe right now), and anything else that might help me out.
I'm planning on being very conservative with the number of taps, using the tree-saver tap, and boiling the Walnut sap separate from the Maple sap.
Thanks, Pat.

[steel tap syrup]

I tap walnuts and love it. I like the taste better than maple. But that's just me. It is also my biggest seller I can't make enough of it to keep up. It is just like maple. Everything is the same, just different sap. Tap the same time, boil the same way, filter the same way ( way less sugar sand by the way), and bottle the same. You will LOVE IT!!!!

[acerrubrum]

Ok, great. Thanks for the feedback.
I was also wondering about the juglone, the chemical in Walnuts that is toxic to other plants etc. Is that any concern when using Walnut sap for syrup?

[Ittiz]

Ok, great. Thanks for the feedback.
I was also wondering about the juglone, the chemical in Walnuts that is toxic to other plants etc. Is that any concern when using Walnut sap for syrup?

For what ever reason that's not a problem.

[WestWind]

I tap walnuts and love it. I like the taste better than maple. But that's just me. It is also my biggest seller I can't make enough of it to keep up. It is just like maple. Everything is the same, just different sap. Tap the same time, boil the same way, filter the same way ( way less sugar sand by the way), and bottle the same. You will LOVE IT!!!!

How many taps do you have? Are they black walnuts? Forest or orchard setting? How's the walnut sap sugar content compared to maple sap? How young of a walnut tree do you tap; for maple, I'll tap a 6 incher... Does the syrup taste any different? I read an article that it's same as maple... Very interesting...

[steel tap syrup]

How many taps do you have? Are they black walnuts? Forest or orchard setting? How's the walnut sap sugar content compared to maple sap? How young of a walnut tree do you tap; for maple, I'll tap a 6 incher... Does the syrup taste any different? I read an article that it's same as maple... Very interesting...I have 13 taps in 5 trees. The are very large, between 3' and 5'. They are in my front yard. The sugar content is a little less than maple. I boiled some down this pass weekend, I had 7 gallons of sap and it made 1 pint of syrup. I like it better than maple. I sell out of it faster than I can make it. I am looking for more tree's right now for more taps. But in my area black walnuts are hard to come by. I have never tapped a tree smaller than 10". You treat it just like maple, same time to tap, same way of boiling, same filtering just far less sugar sand by the way, and bottle the same way. If you have some black walnuts you can tap, DO IT!!!!!! You will love it.

[wishlist]

I have 35 walnut taps in . First year trying the walnuts but I've noticed a few things already. First run I had the sugar content was high, over 6% which seemed odd but I'll take it ! The sap tasted like diluted kool aid! These were the smaller walnut trees which warmer up first. Collected another 17 gallons on Saturday and it was 3% .

On average the walnuts are outproducing my 300 sugar maple taps this year but most of my maples are very large yard and roadsides.

One thing I've also noticed is on the larger walnuts the bark is so thick that hanging a bag on is difficult after you tap. I normally use the clear Lapierre taps but have found the Leader clear taps are 1/4" longer and that helps. I have 16 walnut taps on tubing and that is working ( when we get a warm spell) good.

I have not tried to ro any walnut sap yet. Maybe next year if things go well and I can find a market for the walnut syrup.:)

[acerrubrum]

Thanks for the responses, it helps a lot. I plan on putting in about 12 taps in Walnuts tomorrow- I think a bit late but best I could do. These are yard trees averaging 18-30" diameter. I'm anxious to see what the sugar content is, and can't wait to taste it!

[WalnutCreek]

I actually have more black walnuts on my property than maples and box elders combined. I tapped 5 (all 16"+ diameter) to try them out and have been getting consistent readings of about 4% sugars. I will shortly be tapping more and making my operation 100% black walnuts. The syrup is quite sweet with a distinctly different taste (but a good thing!). Now, my add-on questions to this thread are, is there a decent market for black walnut syrup, is it typically valued higher than maple syrup, and where does one buy or sell it? I can't seem to find anything online about it.

[acerrubrum]

Walnut Creek,
I've never heard or seen Black Walnut syrup being sold. I only heard about making the stuff through this website. Perhaps there is an 'untapped' market for it!