Originally Posted by
Woody77
I am lucky to be in a small little pocket in Michigan that has some great soil. It makes some of the best syrup period. it's nothing I do or anything a few of my fellow sugarers do. We all have different setups,diffrent collecting methods, exc. But the syrup is just good. We've got customers from Hawaii, Alaska ,new York,Vermont and canada and every where else that tell us it's great.
When people ask me what I do I tell them it's like cheese and wine and hopps. It's where you are .
Other things do contribute a little like cook time . The longer the sugar is under heat the more the flavor develops and changes.
Dr. Tim what do you think ?
By the way here in the lower Hudson Valley the sugar maples tend to thrive in the well drained, rocky, little soil of the lower to mid slope sections of the Hudson Highlands ( a small widespread range of mountains extending from near sea level to about 1700 feet in elevation) . They do not do well in the most soil rich flat areas of the lower river valley intervals. Red Maples will do better in those areas. That is evident by the Swamp Maple which I refer to as a Red Stray. You will not catch a sugar maple in a swamp dead or alive. This area is an exemplar for the optimum location of Sugar Maple habitat. More so then anywhere else I have observed.
Most of the sugaring that takes place in Vermont takes place on the lower to mid slope sections of the mountains, not down in the fertile soil rich intervals of the Champlain Valley were there are fewer sugar maple groves and much more fertile soils.
But cheers to letting people think how they think syrup becomes "The Best"
The Bear
If you think it's easy to make good money in maple syrup .... then your obviously good at stealing somebody's Maple Syrup.
Favorite Tree: Sugar Maple
Most Hated Animal: Sap Sucker
Most Loved Animal: Devon Rex Cat
Favorite Kingpin: Bruce Bascom
40 Sugar Maple Taps ... 23 in CT and 17 in NY .... 29 on gravity tubing and 11 on 5G buckets ... 2019 Totals 508 gallons of sap, 7 boils, 11.4 gallons of syrup.
1 Girlfriend that gives away all my syrup to her friends.