Maple Syrup Batch Diary
Batch #12 – Harvested on January 14th, 2021. The trees kept flowing despite slowing down a bit. They kept me busy as most were giving me sap if not for just a little. Cooked on the kiln to about ¼ the pan the moved it over to the cheese pot for a few hours. Brought it inside to do final finish. Almost burnt in. It’s a thick syrup, with brown sugar notes.
Batch #13 – Harvested in on February 5/21. Cooked on the kiln the days after til about 50%. I ran out of propane for the cheese pot. Nice caramel flavour. Poured it into buckets and finished it inside. This was a clean batch. Not a lot of filtering and sediment. Buttery and smooth.
Batch #14 – Harvested it on Valentine’s Day 2021. Got a nice haul from the southern maples again. The ones by the mill were flowing. Cooked it on the kiln for 2 days til about 20% then moved it to the cheese pot for a day til about 53%. Finished the rest inside. Dark in colour, smooth brown sugar
Batch #15 – Harvested and cooked on Feb. 21/21. Started on the kiln and cooked it to 43% and then moved it to the cheese pot. I forgot about it and went to bed early, but the gas ran out right out as the syrup was nearing 63% sugar. I got lucky. I called this the “magic” batch. Nice smooth flavour. Brown sugar notes.
Batch #16 – Feb.26, 2021. Harvested and cooked on kiln to about 20% then poured it in the cheese pot and cooked it about about 40% and then almost burnt it inside. Dark, molasses burnt brown sugar flavour.
Batch #17 – Feb. 28, 2021 – Harvested and cooked on the kiln to about 40%. Then had it sit outside for a few days. Finally got it finished March 3, 2022. Has a bitter orange and apricot flavour to it. Very distinct. Wondering if it might have to do with some of the cedars growing nearby the trees I harvested. They can often influence the flavour of the maple sap.
Batch #18 – Jan. 13, 2022 – Had a good few days of nice sunny weather. The snow melted and the trees started flowing. This was the accumulation of a few days harvest. A very big batch. Kept feeding the kiln with sap and wood til the pan was full of dark brown boiling sap/syrup. Moved it over to the cheese pot to do a first stage finish. Moved it inside in a few buckets to do the final finish and filter.
Batch #19 – Feb. 17-19, 2022 – Another good run of sunny days. Trees really turned on the tap. I was getting flow from trees that don’t normally produce. It’s like that in the early spring. Some trees only run at the end of the season and so you get some unexpected contributors. There is a pepper lemon orange flavour. Lighter than most batches.
Batch #20
Batch #1 – Terry and I boiled our first pot down on our first evaporator Terry made. Terry was an American gentleman who came up here through the PCT. He needed a place to stay over the winter. Built out of a 50 gal drum on it’s side, the thing leaked smoke out of it like crazy. The result was an earthy, distinctly smoky flavour. Harvested and Processed in Jan/Feb 2017. Cooked on drum in the sugar shack, finished in pot in the kitchen.
Batch #2 – Our second batch of the season, still with the leaky drum. The result was a sweet smoky, caramel flavour. Harvested in Feb 2017. Cooked on drum in the sugar shack, finished in pot in the kitchen.
Batch #3A - First time using the Kiln Evaporator in the sugar shack. I repurposed an old pottery kiln that was donated by my friend Pat. I placed a fitted steam tray on top. This evaporator hold more sap for bigger batches and keeps the heat in for more efficient burning. What you lose is the gritty, smoky flavour of last year’s syrup, but what you gain is the complexities that were drowned out by the smoky earthy flavours previously. Ist part of boiled batch in Jan/Feb 2019. No filter during cooking or filtering until the final pour. Let sit for a year, to let settle and finished it to pour into bottles, Nov. 2022. Taste: Citrus flavour with sweet, smoky elements.
Batch #3B –Feb/March 2019 Cooked down on Kiln – 2nd part of harvested batch. Finished filtering with wool filters and cheese cloth. Cleaned finishing pot halfway through finishing. Taste: sour citrus with a tart finish. Molasses tasted ending with a slight burnt maple flavour.
Batch #3C – Feb/March 2019 – 3rd part of big batch started on the Kiln. Finished filtering with wool filters and cheese cloth, a few times. Same flavours as the other batches but less molasses flavour.
Batch #4 – Christmas batch. Dec 2019. I evaporated this batch on the big cheese pot I got from the local cheese maker in exchange for an old cargo van I didn’t want to keep insured. All that I asked was to let me borrow it from time to time when needed and I’d leave a bottle of syrup in the seat after I’m done. I haven’t needed the van but I sure I have come to love the pot. It sits over a propane stove and I wanted to see what flavours I would come out or lost without the wood fire under it. It was a small batch. Just over a 1L made. It’s a little light in colour but has a rich warm maple flavour.
Batch #5 – Cooked on January 22, 2020. It came from a few buckets of sap I sat sitting in the pond and snow for 5-6 days. Maybe a little too long. The sap looked a little milky at times and got really foamy and dirty in the evaporation process. Cooked down half on the kiln and finished the first stage on the cheese pot. Brought it inside to do the final finish and filtering.
Batch #6 – Cooked on January 23-25, 2020 Drilled new holes for half of the trees. Mostly on the north side of Glenora Creek. Weather was cold in the evening but 4-5 C with sun. The trees loved it and were generous to me. There was a lot of flow and I had to keep the kiln going all day and night for a few days to keep up. The cheese pot was going pretty steady to finish this batch off plus the next few. Dark in colour. Orange citrus flavours with a smooth maple finish.
Batch #7 – January 24/20 - Second part of the first batch. Poured out half of half cooked down kiln batch and transferred it to the cheese pot. This got to sit under the wood fire and cook down a bit more to about ¼ pan full and then I added some fresh sap. The darker cooked down base flavour inspired the fresher sap to take on richer tones to the flavour. It has a smoky molasses flavour with a citrus orange ending.
Batch #8 – Cooked on Jan. 29/20 – Cooked long on the kiln in a series of mild rainy days. I got soaked harvesting but the trees loved it. It got nice and brown in the kiln, cooked it off to ¼ of the pan then finished first stage on the cheese pot. Then finished inside to about 2L. A nice middle of the road flavour and taste as far as my syrup is concerned…. which still makes it pretty unique. Dark, full of earthy flavour.
Batch #9 – Cooked on Feb. 3/20. This was a collimation of several days of the trees just giving a little. Just when the pan was getting low, they gave me just enough to fill it. Cooked on Kiln for days. Longer than usual. I finished inside on the night of the 4th. Has a dark orange colour and flavour has notes of lemon and orange citrus.
Batch #10 – Cooked in Dec. 13, 2020 – First harvest of the year. We had a nice cold snap and had some nice sunny days. The trees on the south side of the creek gave me plenty. Most of this batch came from that large spread out family. Cooked on kiln to about 20% sugar. Left it for a few days and then 1st stage finished it on the cheese pot. It sat too long and it made the taste not great. It’s still maple sweet but with an off taste to it. Not a good batch.
Batch #11 – Cooked down on kiln January, 11 2021. Another nice patch of warm weather. All the regulars were very generous. I even had some stingy trees up on the ridge give me some sap this run. Spend 2.5 days cooking it on the kiln. Finished on cheese pot til about 50%. Final finish was inside. Nice dark colour with hints of brown sugar.