Step 1: collect maple sap
Tap Maple Trees
Sap from maple trees is collected in the Spring when there are warm days and cool nights. The sap is collected by drilling and placing a new tap into each tree every year. The sap will run out of the taps as the trees thaw. All taps are connected through a network of tubing.
Collect Sap
Modern tubing systems are used to efficiently transport our sap to common collection points. Each maple tree will produce approximately 15 gallons of sap per year. The maple sap has approximately 2% sugar content when it comes out of the tree. It takes over 40 gallons of maple sap to produce 1 gallon of maple syrup.
Sap Storage
We have over 10,000 gallons of storage capacity for our maple sap. On a good sap run we can get up to 2 gallons of sap per tree per day.
step 2: process sap into syrup
Reverse Osmosis
Maple syrup is made by simply removing the water from the sap and concentrating the sugar. The maple sap is first processed through a reverse osmosis machine to efficiently remove approximately 86% of the water volume. This process will concentrate the sap to a 15% sugar concentration.
Boil Sap
The concentrated sap is then boiled in our wood-fired evaporator. As the steam rises the sugar becomes more concentrated. The syrup is complete when it has a 67% sugar concentration. There are no additives used in the making of Pure Maine Maple Syrup.
Filter and Package
The syrup that comes off the evaporator is filtered using a filter press and packaged hot into stainless steel barrels. The syrup will then get packaged in retailed size bottles for our customers to enjoy all year long. Each batch is graded based on color and flavor.
step 3: enjoy maple syrup
Bottling
All of our retailed size bottles are filled individually by hand. The syrup is heated to 195 degrees before packaging to ensure freshness.
Packaging
We package our syrup in a variety of plastic and glass bottles in many sizes. Our most popular grade of pure maple syrup is Dark Robust. Please visit our online store to see what is currently available.
The Healthy Sweetener
- Maple syrup is a healthy, all-natural sweetener
- It is a good source of zinc and manganese
- Maple syrup has only 50 calories per tablespoon
- Pure maple syrup is the official sweetener of the State of Maine