KINGDOM COMMONS

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Kingdom Commons - Origins of Maple Syrup

Native Americans discovered how to collect sap or tree water from maple trees. In fact maple sugar comprised 12% of the diet of native Americans. Vermont is the home to the Algonquin, Iroquois and Abenaki Native American nations. The Indian name for maple sugar is--Sinzibuckwud (drawn from the wood).

There is an Iroquois legend of how maple sap was first used. Click here for a version of this story. The Indians cooked down the sap by heating hot rock in an open fire. They picked the rocks up with sticks, and placed the rocks in a wooden bowl. The rocks were hot enough to make steam to cook down the sap. Click here to see a picture of how the maple products sold by Kingdom Commons is made today.

The making of maple syrup and other maple products in Vermont, especially the northern reaches of this beautiful state often referred to as "The Northeast Kingdom", is a thriving tradition that signals the arrival of spring. The sweet scent of boiling maple sap escaping area sugar "shacks" or sugar "houses" is just one of the many reasons visitors travel from around the world to experience "springtime in Vermont"!

Here, the arrival of Spring is anticipated long before the first buds appear on the wintry foliage, as the sweet aroma of boiling maple sap drifts upon the breeze. The sweet scent of maple permeates the fresh Northern Vermont air, signaling the arrival of the Vermont Maple Harvest.

This annual event is a tradition founded on romance and ritual. The gathering of sap excites native Vermonters as they court the maples, determining the precise time to tap and capture the crystalline liquid traveling through its veins.

The syrup processing ritual is eagerly anticipated regardless of the hard work and long hours spent laboring over the sugar pots. Why? Because the maple syrup gathering season is short-lived and often unpredictable due to The Northeast Kingdom's variable weather conditions.

Time and weather are the primary keys to a successful maple harvest. Weather plays the most significant role in maple sap production, as the maples rely on the freezing and thawing periods that usually occur in late February and early March. In order for the sap to flow, the weather must grow steadily warmer until temperatures rise above freezing .

It takes a long, long time (nearly 40 years) for the best provider of the highest quality sap - the Sugar Maple, or Hard Maple - to grow larger than 12" in diameter at chest height, when it becomes ready for one tap. If all signs signal the go-ahead, Sugarmakers will head into their stand of trees - called 'maple orchards' or 'sugarbushes' - in late February and begin drilling the 7/16" holes, to a depth of approximately 2 1/2", into the trunks of their specimen maples.

If the weather has been cooperative, the clear, slightly sweet liquid will slowly drip from the spile into buckets that, when full, are promptly collected and brought to the sugarhouse for boiling. If a pipeline system (also referred to as a sapline system) is used, the sap flows directly downhill through a tubing network to a central collection point. Today's modern methods of collecting the sap make it somewhat easier that when the sap was collected using HORSES.

The 'sap run' continually starts and stops as temperatures rise and fall above and below freezing. As a rule, each tap will yield approximately 10 gallons of sap during a six-week period, producing 1 quart of maple syrup per tap. There is no limit to the number of times a tree can be tapped - many have poured forth their annual treasure continuously over 150 years, or longer.

The highest quality syrup is made from the freshest and cleanest sap. If not immediately tended, the sap will deteriorate and the resulting syrup will not withstand the test of a true maple syrup connoisseur. Vermont Sugar Shacks house huge evaporator pans fired by wood, oil, or gas to heat the sap to the boiling point. Billows of steam escape through a vent or cupola atop the shack, where the aroma travels on the air for all to enjoy.

It takes long hours and perseverance to produce a maple syrup worthy of the 'Pure Vermont' label. The boil-down process is especially tedious, continuing for hours upon hours in order to eliminate all water content from the sap. But have no fear, for the delectable golden brew will materialize - literally, when it's good and ready!

Once the boiling process is complete, the resulting syrup is filtered and packed for distribution to eagerly awaiting consumers around the world. The Vermont Department of Agriculture administers stringent quality requirements on the making and selling of Vermont maple products. Every product sold is required by Vermont State Law to carry a label showing the grade of the syrup and the name of the producer.