Need Maple Syrup for Dummies book please

[Laurie Enget Richard]

Hi, this is my first post on this forum. We started tapping last year here in MN. We only have 6 trees to tap but for a hobby and to get a years of syrup we decided to try it out again this year. We have 11 taps. We had nice tapping weather beginning of march then it got warm and the snow melted then the weather changed again to the typical good tapping weather. We have one tree that has stopped or slowed down so we pulled the tap. We have two trees that were strong for the first 3 weeks but have slowed down lots. We have two trees that didn't really start giving us sap until probably last week. And it is giving us lots of sap and its clear. But all the trees are budding. On top of the tree and now starting on the bottom there are leaves breaking through the buds. I thought it was strange these two trees didn't start sap until later and as far as i know they are all silver maples. Although i am now questioning my sanity. ha. The two trees we have left are also budding and giving us lots of sap but when we boil it down its very very light. Honey colored and sweet. Not a lot of maple flavor but sweet and almost citrus tasting. And we are getting more of it. Today the two pints we got last night are today full of sugar sand and suspended in the syrup of which is mostly clear. tastes good? looks really like honey? Anyone had this happen? What does it mean?

[4010]

I am also getting the same syrup you are very light no maple flavor I couldn't figure out the the exact flavor but your right on with the citrus. I think its because of the weather with such cold temps after the silver maples flowered. Anyone else getting this type of syrup.

[Galena]

FWIW my bush of 5 sugars and 1 red always produce a light honey-coloured batch that does tend to have marshmallow/vanilla notes to it. There is an actual maple flavour wheel showing a spectrum of some 90 flavours that maple syrup can have....just let me go find it...http://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/science-and-innovation/research-centres/quebec/food-research-and-development-centre/maple-syrup-flavour/flavour-wheel-for-maple-products/?id=1231363888838

[CampHamp]

Like the wheel! Thanks. If they would add "Whiskey" under the Foreign Environment section, then that would help describe what I'm tasting this year. :emb:

[Laurie Enget Richard]

thats very interesting. thanks for the flavor wheel. i bookmarked that for next year. now color? i have to say that FWC your probably right. Because we are both in mn we have similar weather . Now to figure out WHY these two trees of mine started way later then the others...lol..:confused:

[Galena]

thats very interesting. thanks for the flavor wheel. i bookmarked that for next year. now color? i have to say that FWC your probably right. Because we are both in mn we have similar weather . Now to figure out WHY these two trees of mine started way later then the others...lol..:confused:

Hey, don't dis the trees that start a little late. They may be your superproducers. My superproducerss typically start to kick into gear 2 weeks after all the other trees have established a steady flow. Last year I got 407l of sap, and of that, 102l came from one of these two trees, and 98.5l from the second. They've already started their horserace, I'll collect say 4l from one and then 3.5 from the other. Always a race til the end! ;-)