Syrup is Lighter than Previous Batches?

[CTMapleNewbie]

Hello All,

In my first maple season and this hobby is fast becoming one of my favorites.

This weekend I boiled off about 6 gallons of sap to make 16-18 oz of syrup. However, I noticed that this batch was much lighter in color than my most recent syrups. About half of the 6 gallons came from 2 trees that hadn't produced anything previously, so could these 2 trees be late starters? Or could I have tapped some wrong trees?

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks!

[Ryan Mahar]

Very end of the year syrup can turn very light and then quickly will turn to buddy flavor so be careful about your flavor.....hoping you tapped only maples!!!

[CTMapleNewbie]

Very end of the year syrup can turn very light and then quickly will turn to buddy flavor so be careful about your flavor.....hoping you tapped only maples!!!

I was pretty careful when selecting the trees. I found a couple of maples during the fall and marked them with rope. Then in the winter I found a couple of more by pulling the bark off the tagged maples and comparing them to the other trees....

Throughout the season, the maple tasted like... maple. And I think the light one still has maple flavor. What does it taste like when it's buddy?

[saphound]

Probably soft maples..it's almost impossible to pull bark off a sugar maple. Stuff is like iron and a good way to tell soft from hard in the winter. Soft maple you can pull off loose pieces. I've never boiled any buddy syrup, but they say it smells awful while boiling and tastes terrible.

[Sugarmaker]

We made late season buddy syrup years ago (the late 60's early 70's). At first taste it did not seem bad, then a strong off flavor (bitter) would grab you on the back of the tongue.
regards,
Chris

[Cedar Eater]

Buddy syrup leaves a nasty "coated" feeling in your mouth as well as tasting really really off.

[CTMapleNewbie]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll taste it tonight.

I wasn't sure from looking at the leaves, but the bark from my trees looks like they're red maple...

Lol is there any harm if I tapped wrong trees?! You got me scared now Ryan!