I made birch syrup a few years ago, but I did a lot of reading before I did it, so I wasn't as surprised by the results as some seem to be. First, it is not pancake syrup, nor would it be good for sweetening coffee. It's okay for oatmeal or drizzled on vanilla icecream, but it is much like molasses and works in most of the same applications, like baking, BBQ sauces, meat glazes, etc. The uniqueness of birch really shines in making things like pulled pork or beef brisket, but BBQ spareribs are my favorite use for it. RO makes a big difference because you burn less of the fructose, which is the primary sugar in it, but even so, you have to approach the syrup density slowly after boiling most of the water out. But I will tell you how I learned to make it better. Add 1-4 cups of plain white table sugar per 100 gallons of sap. This makes the boil behave much better. Of course, you can't do this if you intend to market it as pure, but it will taste much better and work better in baking.