Vermont is blessed with a perfect environment for maple syrup. It starts with the right tree, the American Sugar Maple, which thrives in Vermont. During the winter, the tree stores sap in its roots. In spring, the combination of cool nights and warmer days begins to ease the sap up into the trunk of the tree. In a good season, we'll have an extended period where the daytime temperatures rise into the 40s, with nighttime lows dropping below freezing. This keeps the sap running longer, and some say, sweeter. 100% Pure Vermont maple syrup comes into being in a long metal device called an evaporator. Set over a blazing hardwood fire, the evaporator usually consists of a pair of pans that boil the sap down in stages. Sap enters the front end of the evaporator at about 2% sugar and in a water-like consistency. As the sap progresses slowly through the pans, water is boiled off and the sugar ratio climbs. Timing is important. Boil too long and the syrup will crystallize - too short and it will spoil. At the far end of the evaporator, the syrup flows into a drum where it is filtered before being bottled in Vermont's trademark metal and plastic containers. To learn more about sugaring, visit the Vermont Maple Web site maintained by the Vermont Sugarmakers Association. Or plan a visit to Vermont during Sugaring Season. |