SMALL BATCH MAPLE SYRUP
One of the world’s only commercially produced wild foods, maple syrup is as delicious as it is versatile in the kitchen. A food rich in antioxidant and inflammatory properties, maple syrup has a place at breakfast, lunch, dinner and / or dessert.
Return to Earth’s maple syrup is produced from sap collected from our own sugar-bush and processed in small batches using traditional methods and techniques.
Our syrup is offered in four sizes – 250 ml, 375 ml, 500 ml, and 1 L – across four recognized grades, as described below and as available year-to-year.
GOLDEN & AMBER SYRUPS are produced during the earliest days of the maple-production season and offer a more delicate, caramel taste with gentle maple undertones. They are particularly good mixed into yogurt and salad dressings or drizzled over ice cream, cheesecake, and other desserts.
DARK & VERY DARK MAPLE SYRUPS are produced in the latter half of the maple run and offers a distinctly maple flavour that is robust and full-bodied. They work beautifully as marinades (i.e., for pork or salmon) and hold their own when paired with a squash and roasted. They also are amazing sweeteners in coffee.
FUN FACT
Maple sap in its raw form is 98% water and 2% sugar. To create maple syrup you boil the sap until enough water has evaporated that the 2% sugar concentration reaches approximately 66%.
So much water needs to evaporate that it takes approximately 40 liters of sap to make 1 liter of syrup!
MAKING MAPLE SYRUP
Return to Earth’s sugar-bush is located within a hardwood forest which covers the back 5-acres of our property. This area is populated by a range of tree species including elm, shag-bark hickory, basswood, musclewood, black cherry, and red oak, as well as approximately 500 sugar maple and red maple trees: both of which are considered “sweet” trees due to the comparatively high sugar content in their sap.
SYRUP SEASON
Maple syrup can only be produced over (roughly) two months in the spring of each year – in our region this is generally from mid-February to early April. The spring sap run is caused by a pendulum of pressure within the maple trees caused by varying day and night temperatures. As daytime temperatures rise above freezing, positive pressure building within the trees pushes sap out of the tree – and out any taps that have been placed. At night, as temperatures drop again, negative pressure pulls water back into the tree through its roots thus replenishing the sap supply.
Sap will continue to flow past the early / mid April point, but this usually marks the end of the sugaring season because it is at this point that the trees begin to bud and as soon as the trees’ buds begin to open the sap turns bitter and unpalatable (to humans).
SAP COLLECTION
Trees are tapped as the weather begins to warm and just before the sap begins to flow. This is done by drilling a small hole into the tree trunk and placing a tap, or spiel, into the hole. At Return to Earth, we use tree saver taps which have a smaller-than-usual diameter. This means a slower rate of flow than standard taps, but it also means less damage is done to the trees when placing the spiels. For us, the trade-off is well worthwhile!
Once the sap is flowing, we collect it with the aid of a small solar-powered pump and a veritable web of lines to a centralized collection point. From here, Ben transports it to our sugar-shack where its run through a small reverse-osmosis system which A) removes approximately 50% of the water content thus reducing volume by about half, and B) provides a first level of filtration. Once enough sap has been collected to warrant a cook, the fire is lit (literally)!
THE BOIL
We use a basic, homemade evaporator consisting of deep pans suspended over an open top, wood-fuelled, brick “oven”. Raw sap is poured into the first pan and allowed to cook down. As water evaporates and the sap slowly reduces it moves down the line. By the time the sap reaches the end of the line it will have been cooking for more about 8 hours, been reduced by nearly 90% of its original volume, and have gone from a 2% sugar content to nearly 66%.
This is now maple syrup!
A hydrometer is used to measure the density of the syrup before the boiling liquid is run through a fine felt filter and bottled in sterile glass jars.
During the main sap run, we’ll run a cook approximately every 1-3 days!