well the trees have awaken! Love the short 4-6 hr freezes really makes for a hard run with minimal ice issue.

Boiled off 8100 gallons yesterday from Saturday and Sunday, sugar content very nice testing 1.9 - 2.1. 1.9 is mix of reds. Turned all that into 165 gallons syrup. Started off with some dark amber and was at light amber by barrel #4. Speaking of amber the new grade system really doesn't correctly represent the actual grade of amber. (I made 3 different grades of amber yesterday) It needs a sub category. We all know dark amber isn't robust and light amber is not golden that's a fact, so just call it amber is the answer I guess but that doesn't separate or highlight the different flavor profiles of the grade(light amber being sweet and crisp while dark amber has a slight amount of maple flavor with a lower light transmission than light amber). which isn't an issue for the robust or golden grades. What about the folks that want a little bit of maple flavor but not robust these folks used to grab the dark Amber now they don't know where to find that particular flavor they once had, I guess they have to buy one of each dark and light and mix their own!

.6 gpt sap yesterday from 10 am to 5 pm, like garden hoses coming into releaser! I'm hoping our season isn't too short, I'm seeing 55/60 and full sun coming up which can wreak havoc on the sap! Time tells all!