Hop Kiln Road 2017

[Hop Kiln Road]

This weather reminds me of the winter of 1966 when I was holed up in The Pavilion. Back when it was a creaky floor hotel instead of a governor's bunker. Vermont had just been beguiled into reapportionment in exchange for Ike & Kay's Defense Highways. The big issues of the day were importation of Canadian hydro power and control of deer herd. Fifty years later the power issue is still unresolved. However, that condensed 1966 legislature abdicated control of the deer herd to Fish & Game. Seemed innocuous enough at the time: transferring the welfare of all them little deers from the people to the state, which would take professional care of them with scientific decisions, and not to worry, really only semantics, cause the state was the people anyway. And so the winds started to shift. Yup, climate change, and you don't gotta trudge to the Arctic Circle to see what happened.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Nice sun high pressure yesterday afternoon produced a good flow from 3PM until freeze up. Looks like gal/tap in 4 or 5 hours. High was only 36F and no tree wells yet.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Real problem making syrup last night. Couldn't read the hydrometer too good cause of black spots floating around in my vision. Got a real bad case of 'em over the weekend trying to read the **** tax tables. Geez, no wonder guys get bater issues. Now M wants me to pay some voyeur to examine the intimate details of our life. Chuck ole Head of Household out the window. And don't get me wrong, I think it patriotic to pay taxes. But I also think it is a civic duty to do your own taxes. Bet nobody in Washington does their own taxes cause they're too busy dreaming up more, "first complete the worksheet on page 47 to see if you qualify" worksheets that only cause black spots and burnt pans. Anyway, now after we finally got a good sap run going, M is dragging me off to an eye doctor. Got my bater in an uproar when she said it might be glaucoma, which I thought was white dots, and this morning Ace, who thinks I can't keep my eye on the ball anyway, says the cure for glaucoma is medical whoopie weed, which I really don't need to start taking right before Maple Weekend.

[sweetvt]

Good stuff remember, we're not getting older, just getting better. Last night in SH was having trouble with seeing the lines on ole hydrometer myself, ran and grabbed my spectacles, problem solved. A little later when firing the evaporator forgot I had put the said spectacles on my head and watched them fall into hot bed of coals at the bottom of the evaporator doors...

[Hop Kiln Road]

M had Ace drive me to the eye doctor. Fortunately, after that February 29th deluge last year, I converted the RO to a 2 pass system and added that aforementioned dump tank in the front lawn, by the Abraham Lincoln lilacs, which are about to bloom. Then last November I secured a front row seat in MES Clayton's maple school pep talk. Between the two I got an easy 100% increase in RO efficiency. Sap flows this year ain't been that strong, so Ace whooshed a quick 300 gal into the dump tank and took me down to town. Eh gads Roswell, doc was nice enough, but she had these big glowing blue eyes. Said I must have strained my eyes doing something! Three, two, one. Okay. Went to leave and there was grinning Ace sitting in the middle of the waiting room with all the ladies putting different style of sunglasses on him and giggling.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Really nice maple weekend. Set up a maple tasting with 5 different maple syrups from 4 different local sugar houses. All four different color grades were represented. There were high RO syrups and low ro syrups, sugar maple and red maple, and even a metabolized sap maple syrup from that hot March week last season. Everybody, both days, could taste the very distinct differences and were flabbergasted at the range of flavor. Oh, and something is up with Ace, had to pump the field tanks this week without him. Really nice icy sap too, what little there was... M is quite perturbed and going to track him down.

[Hop Kiln Road]

AH HA! Young Ace claims he's been real busy gardening for ole Miss Evangeline. Says he's been peatmossing and watering her orchards and has to wear a uniform. Right, and the dog ate his homework too! Cept, he don't go to school and he don't gotta dog. So I made some comment about all the snow and inclement weather and he says, straight faced, the orchards are in her greenhouse. Well her greenhouse is a lot bigger than my sugarhouse, and, I've never been in it, but, I kinda very strongly double doubt there's much of an orchard in that glittering over priced hall of mirrors. So now my bater starts acting up. Why that scandalous Coottess has Shanghaied my driver! So I ask him about the uniform business while we're standing around in 15" of new snow pumping the Brook Tank and he says, with that same game face, the harness leather chafe really hurts and he prefers loose clothing when he's playing. Oh dear, why I'm going to call his mom.

[Russell Lampron]

Really nice maple weekend. Set up a maple tasting with 5 different maple syrups from 4 different local sugar houses. All four different color grades were represented. There were high RO syrups and low ro syrups, sugar maple and red maple, and even a metabolized sap maple syrup from that hot March week last season. Everybody, both days, could taste the very distinct differences and were flabbergasted at the range of flavor. Oh, and something is up with Ace, had to pump the field tanks this week without him. Really nice icy sap too, what little there was... M is quite perturbed and going to track him down.

It looks like your taste test went well. Of course I'm curious as to what the tasters thought of my syrup. I got a lot of good comments here but I don't know what the other samples tasted like.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Russ - I want you to try the samples first, blind, before I say too much. However, this particular group of syrups clearly show that the different production techniques of different saps from different terroirs produce a remarkable range of flavor. I'm going to plow out if you want to swing by or I am going by Loudon tomorrow and will drop off a set of samples. Bruce

[Hop Kiln Road]

View of the Blind Tasting

Samples 2017.jpg