Maple Water

[Machinist67]

Check out this link. http://finance.yahoo.com/video/product-next-coconut-water-174406610.html

[GeneralStark]

Interesting. I think there would be some pretty considerable challenges with preventing fermentation of the sap. I wonder of they just blend some syrup with water to produce the product. Or are they using permeate?

I have kept sap by refrigerating it, but even then it spoils.

[GeneralStark]

High Pressure Processing.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

think they using perm it was on national news the other night. talked about the"waste pure water". sap soda has already been being done for 20 years.
the news report i saw had a guy talking about RO sap, cant find the link I saw report on.

https://www.vtsweetwater.com/



FOUND IT
http://vimeo.com/72754557

[Jebediah]

I read something saying that it is pasteurized, I think? You guys need to either 1) stop boiling (it is removing value), or 2) market your syrup as "maple water concentrate." If I read correctly, one gallon of "maple water concentrate" would go for about $5K.

[DrTimPerkins]

I wonder of they just blend some syrup with water to produce the product. Or are they using permeate?

I have kept sap by refrigerating it, but even then it spoils.

Yes, untreated sap will spoil fairly quickly. How it is made depends upon the product. Most are just sap that has been pasteurized in some way (mostly ultra high temperature treatment -- done very quickly to prevent color formation) and then aseptically packaged (mostly in Tetrapaks). Some are likely concentrate that has been diluted back to typical sap sugar concentration. One product is permeate with flavor added. There are at least 8 different new maple water or maple sap drinks, and likely to be more coming online in the next year or two, especially if the market takes hold like some hope it does. They are essentially trying to duplicate the success of coconut water.

Most are available in fairly limited areas or limited quantities. I've spent a fair amount of effort getting ahold of several different maple waters this summer. We did a small taste testing a few weeks ago, and plan to do another in a couple of weeks with a different group. Nothing real scientific, but I'll likely write something up for Maple News or the Maple Digest on what we find. I can tell you one thing for sure.....some of them taste OK :D , some of them do NOT :o . Apparently there is some need for quality control in sourcing the sap and education regarding the need to process it rapidly.

[Jebediah]

Check out www.drinkmaple.com.

[GeneralStark]

High Pressure Processing.

This is the process that "Happy Tree" is using to "treat" the sap for an extended shelf life.

http://www.hiperbaric.com/en/high-pressure

Cold Pasteurization is another name for it. It will be interesting to see if these maple waters take off. I tried one of the permeate based drinks that the Branons in Franklin County were involved in innovating but I didn't really care for it. I hear they have been doing more work to improve the flavor.

[mountainvan]

Maple water was the new coconut water, but now agave water is the new maple water. Keep up with the hipster trends guys!

[DrTimPerkins]

This is the process that "Happy Tree" is using to "treat" the sap for an extended shelf life. .... Cold Pasteurization is another name for it..

The problem with HPP, especially in non-acidic foods, is that it only kills vegetative microbes. Like isopropyl alcohol used in maple tubing (in Canada), it doesn't kill spores, which several of these microbes form. Thus the product should be kept refrigerated to prolong shelf-life, or it will have a fairly modest shelf-life (weeks) if not refrigerated. With refrigeration we're probably only looking at a shelf-life of a few months at best....but who really knows.....still pretty early in the maple water game.

I would suspect that it would be more common that flash pasteurization would be used for most of these new maple water products, especially if they are in Tetrapaks, where any slight color development (if it occurred) would not be noticeable. With this processing, shelf-life might be about a year.

Years ago in the military they used to give us irradiated milk (exposed to gamma radiation) for meals served in the field (at room temperature no less). Supposedly the stuff would last for years without refrigeration. Perception issues prevent the use of irradiated food for the public though.

[wishlist]

[QUOTE

Years ago in the military they used to give us irradiated milk (exposed to gamma radiation) for meals served in the field (at room temperature no less). Supposedly the stuff would last for years without refrigeration. Perception issues prevent the use of irradiated food for the public though.[/QUOTE]

Perception ..........gamma radiated milk on corn flakes , think I would skip breakfast .

[Cabin]

Off topic sort of. What do they do to that 'boxed milk' they have on the shelves now???

[DrTimPerkins]

Off topic sort of. What do they do to that 'boxed milk' they have on the shelves now???

"Shelf-stable" or "shelf-safe" milk doesn't require refrigeration and has a shelf-life of about 6 months. It is processed via UHT (ultra high temperature) processing....basically pasteurization at very high temperatures for a very short duration, and then packed into aseptic packaging, typically Tetra Paks (those drink boxes....very special types of containers made of multiple layers of paper, plastic, and aluminum foil). The processing and packaging are done in very specialized facilities that do both steps, thus maintaining very high quality and greatly reducing any risk of contamination.

[happy thoughts]

Off topic sort of. What do they do to that 'boxed milk' they have on the shelves now???

The same way they have to process maple water and a lot of other food products- Processing for a few seconds under enough pressure to produce very high temps. Think of pressure canning.

[Jebediah]

Package it in Mason jars. $5 per quart. Hipsters will go berserk for it.

[Jebediah]

Come to think of it, syrup in Mason jars might also be a good idea. Play off the ever-so-vague similarity to moonshine. Making it in the woods over a fire, etc, etc.