syrup darkness.....

[Jim Foster]

Just a question about the different colors in syrup from the same trees.... Last year was my first attempt at tapping and making this liquid gold. I was late at the game and only got a couple weeks in at the end of March. My Box Elder syrup was very dark. Tasted heavenly. This week was my first run and the syrup was very light in color and to me, not as tasty. Still sweet but lacking the flavors of last year's syrup. Is this normal? I tapped a couple trees last night and the sap came out so fast you couldn't count the drops. Stoked!!!!!

Jim

[18mile]

This sounds normal. My experience with Box Elder syrup is that it has strong unique flavors. Tends to run dark. But can change especially early in the season

[DrTimPerkins]

Typical trend is for syrup to start out light, then get darker as the season goes on. Not linear, but the general trend over the season is from light to dark. Related to microbial activity (which is related to temperature) converting some of the sucrose (12C sugar) into invert sugars (6C sugars, glucose & fructose) which are more active in the Maillard reactions and caramelize at lower temperatures, causing heightened development of flavor and color.

[jdircksen]

I've had batches switch between amber and dark this year. The dark batches were the ones where the sap sat longer and was a little cloudy. Also when I scorched the sides of my pans, the syrup was darker.