i enjoyed reading the debate and i liked droseum's last post. i try to be efficient when sugaring with the setup i have. not going to spend a fortune to "improve" my syrup. i produce a pretty dark syrup cuz i batch boil for 3 days before i filter n bottle. tastes great but will never win any prizes. this year i'm going to take out 5 gal of semi-syrup each morning and start with fresh sap. then i'll pour the buckets back in when i finish and see what we think of the resulting lighter (i hope) syrup. idk if i will get enough of the nitre out to really lighten up the final product. there is a prejudice against dark syrup and when we gift it i'm sure the giftees are a lil suspect.