Syrupdipity

High: 28 °F
Low: 13 °F
Conditions: Partly cloudy with a chance of flurries.

This past weekend was Maine Maple Sunday, the one day a year when the entire state turns out to celebrate our favorite sweetener.

On the fourth Sunday of every March, the maple syrup producers open their doors and invite the public in for tours, information on sugaring, and lots of really wonderful tastings. How could we say no?




This year, we visited Kinny's Maple Syrup, one of the larger operations in our area. Each day, 6500 gallons of sap travel from the farm maple stand through this rubber tubing, eventually pooling here, in a 2000 gallon holding tank.




From there, the sap travels inside the sugar shack, where it enters the first of two condensers.



When it leaves the tree, sap registers a sugar level of less than 2%, which means that it must be reduced dramatically before it becomes recognizable as syrup. To achieve a single gallon of syrup, then, the sugar makers must boil down 40 gallons of sap.



Once it is reduced, the syrup enters the second boiler, where it is further refined and darkened.



While inside the shack (a misnomer if ever there was one, given the size and surgical cleanliness of this place), we were able to take a full tour of the facility. We also saw evidence of the struggles between sugarmakers and wildlife, including this warning about Ari's nemesis:


We also sampled the local wares, including twice dipped syrup donuts:

And spun syrup candy:

But by far and away the most illuminating aspect of the tour was the opportunity to learn about (and taste) different syrup grades.

As this file photo reveals, syrups range from light to dark, with the former considered the most refined and, thus, valuable. We humans in the group will clearly never become syrupeliers, since we universally liked the darkest of the group. As for the caninaturalist, her only preference was for the syrup most readily available: