The taste of niter

When I'm filtering after getting my syrup to the right density I take a sample in a small glass cup and let it cool while I pour my syrup through the filter. I like syrup at room temp and my wife and I taste it. This year we both came to same conclusion that the syrup had an off flavor. I described it as dirty and she described it as a bad after taste. After filtering I did the same thing and we both thought the syrup tasted fine. Could we have been tasting niter? If so what are peoples descriptions of niters taste?

Interesting. I continually sample my syrup right off the draw off, so unfiltered, and it seems to taste fine. I actually have people request unfiltered syrup because they think it has less flavor after filtering. I do notice the change in flavor as the season progresses and the syrup becomes darker. I guess this doesn't answer your question, but I'm interested in what others have to say.

Yes I have noticed a bitter flavor from raw syrup with a lot of niter in it. The syrup tastes fine right away, but after a few seconds in the mouth, it gets this astringent flavor. Not quite metallic, nor like a hoppy beer or astringent wine, but in that general area.

Gabe

That's interesting cuz my wife said she got a taste on the side of her tongue "kind of like metallic ".

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Originally Posted by OCHTO

That's interesting cuz my wife said she got a taste on the side of her tongue "kind of like metallic ".

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that sounds about right, gritty, bitter and metallic

Good to know I'm not excessively fussy. Customers appreciate it too. Thanks!

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Originally Posted by OCHTO

Good to know I'm not excessively fussy. Customers appreciate it too. Thanks!

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I'm confused by your "customers appreciate it too" statement. Nonetheless, I agree that niter has a bitter metallic flavor. If you taste a pure chunk you'll want to wash out your mouth - it's that bad.

I never appreciated niter when we ran a 2x4 evaporator on 60 or so taps. I think it was partly due to the small quantity of sap, not so many boils, and that we didn't RO. Now, we process/boil about 10 times the sap in a single boil as we did all season and we concentrate to about 12% or more. After the first few boils, I can show anyone what niter looks like at the bottom of my draw-off tank. And I can peal up plates of it from the bottom of the syrup pan after the evaporator has cooled.

I would not sell any of my syrup unfiltered even upon the customer's request. With the volume of niter in our unfiltered syrup, we would be selling an unhealthy product.

Ken

In most if not all states (and Provinces?) it's illegal to sell unfiltered syrup except as bulk.

My customers appreciate the fact that I am fussy. I have a no questions asked replace or refund rule and I never had a complaint. I wanted to know if I was tasting niter before I filtered. I was. I've had people want syrup before it was filtered after tasting while I was boiling it and I wouldn't give them any.