The Flavour Wheel

[Galena]

Hey all, thought I'd post this here in the Inn as I often see threads where posters are concerned about maple syrup that doesn't taste like maple.

The wheel at the bottom of the page in the link shows all the flavours found in syrup, from mild sweet flavour notes like vanilla and marshmallow, to much stronger flavours like coffee/molasses/burnt sugar to the downright nasty (chemically crap) and pleasantly weird stuff, like the batch I made a few seasons ago that had a wonderful, mild fresh hay note to it.

Enjoy!

http://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/science-and-innovation/research-centres/quebec/saint-hyacinthe-research-and-development-centre/maple-syrup-flavour/flavour-wheel-for-maple-products/?id=1231363888838

[berkshires]

My wife thinks I'm nuts, but I've checked several times, and I swear my latest batch has a very slight taste of strawberry syrup. It came no-where near a strawberry or anything like it. It just seems to be something in the sap! It also has a lot of other nice flavors to it. One of the best tasting batches I've made IMO.

It's really weird to me how the same trees, just a few weeks apart, can make syrup that tastes so different.

My first season, my first two batches were super-light, with no "maple" flavor, just a heavy vanilla/caramel flavor. They were almost the color of honey. It never happened again! So weird.

[Galena]

Usually my first batch has vanilla/marshmallow notes, then the flavour gets progressively more maple-y with each batch. Normally I earmark the mid-season batches for gifts as it's the expected maple flavour, but usually still retains some variation due to weather, run, etc.

And yes I have made some late-run batches that tastes like molasses! Still can get thrown for a loop, that batch with the hay note to it was a mid-season batch.

And last year a client gave me some syrup made by an Amish man who really likes to make strong syrup - it tasted somewhere between molasses and vinegar and the colour was so dark it almost had a greeny tinge, which was strange. I fed it to the septic system.

[DrTimPerkins]

The wheel at the bottom of the page in the link shows all the flavours found in syrup, from mild sweet flavour notes like vanilla and marshmallow, to much stronger flavours like...

An alternative version of a flavor map for maple is at https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/VT%200899.pdf

[Galena]

Very cool! Thanks Dr Tim :-) Noticed, though, that the American version posted was published in 2009 and the Canadian version was updated in 2017.