Today I attended a maple syrup festival where pancakes were served with
maple syrup made from the sap of trees located in the park. First the syrup
had the viscosity a little thicker than water. Secondly there did not
appear to be much "maple" flavor. I am not sure if I have ever had "real"
maple syrup before, but the stuff I buy at the "dollar store" seemed to have
more flavor. Now, the group that sponsers this event has been doing it for
over twenty-five years, and I am sure they do not plan to "rip-off" the
public. To give them the benefit of the doubt, I figured that they made the
syrup watery because if it was thick, because of the number of people who
are served, it would take forever for people to put the stuff on their
pancakes. My questions a does thickness vary by region, and does flavor
vary by region. I place some of the blame on myself, because when I was in
high school in the sixties I brushed with McClean's toothpaste which had
such a wild flavor that I think it may have destroyed my tastebuds.

Tom

"mary" wrote in
:

Today I attended a maple syrup festival where pancakes were served
with maple syrup made from the sap of trees located in the park. First
the syrup had the viscosity a little thicker than water. Secondly
there did not appear to be much "maple" flavor. I am not sure if I
have ever had "real" maple syrup before, but the stuff I buy at the
"dollar store" seemed to have more flavor. Now, the group that
sponsers this event has been doing it for over twenty-five years, and
I am sure they do not plan to "rip-off" the public. To give them the
benefit of the doubt, I figured that they made the syrup watery
because if it was thick, because of the number of people who are
served, it would take forever for people to put the stuff on their
pancakes. My questions a does thickness vary by region, and does
flavor vary by region. I place some of the blame on myself, because
when I was in high school in the sixties I brushed with McClean's
toothpaste which had such a wild flavor that I think it may have
destroyed my tastebuds.

Tom

IMHO, real maple syrup is always thinner the artificially flavored
"pancake" and table syrups. As to the flavor, well it's easy to
concentrate artificial flavors and that's apparently what you're used to.
The lack of flavor you found might be from the sap itself or the
processing into syrup. I doubt McClean's had anything to do with it.

Wayne

mary wrote:

Today I attended a maple syrup festival where pancakes were served
with maple syrup made from the sap of trees located in the park.
First the syrup had the viscosity a little thicker than water.
Secondly there did not appear to be much "maple" flavor.

That's the way it comes from the tree. You boil it down to
make it thicker and darker.

I'd like to try "fresh" maple syrup someday, just to see
what it's like. However, as you found, it probably isn't
much like what most folks are used to.

Wayne Boatwright wrote in
:

"mary" wrote in
:

Today I attended a maple syrup festival where pancakes were served
with maple syrup made from the sap of trees located in the park.
First the syrup had the viscosity a little thicker than water.
Secondly there did not appear to be much "maple" flavor. I am not
sure if I have ever had "real" maple syrup before, but the stuff I
buy at the "dollar store" seemed to have more flavor. Now, the group
that sponsers this event has been doing it for over twenty-five
years, and I am sure they do not plan to "rip-off" the public. To
give them the benefit of the doubt, I figured that they made the
syrup watery because if it was thick, because of the number of people
who are served, it would take forever for people to put the stuff on
their pancakes. My questions a does thickness vary by region, and
does flavor vary by region. I place some of the blame on myself,
because when I was in high school in the sixties I brushed with
McClean's toothpaste which had such a wild flavor that I think it may
have destroyed my tastebuds.

Tom

IMHO, real maple syrup is always thinner the artificially flavored
"pancake" and table syrups. As to the flavor, well it's easy to
concentrate artificial flavors and that's apparently what you're used
to. The lack of flavor you found might be from the sap itself or the
processing into syrup. I doubt McClean's had anything to do with it.

Wayne


Also there are grades of maple syrup. Grade A looks better (isn't as dark)
than Grade B. But Grade B tastes better than Grade A.

Perhaps they made grade A syrup?

--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on nothing but food
and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

"mary" wrote in message
...
Today I attended a maple syrup festival where pancakes were served with
maple syrup made from the sap of trees located in the park. First the
syrup
had the viscosity a little thicker than water. Secondly there did not
appear to be much "maple" flavor. I am not sure if I have ever had "real"
maple syrup before, but the stuff I buy at the "dollar store" seemed to
have
more flavor. Now, the group that sponsers this event has been doing it for
over twenty-five years, and I am sure they do not plan to "rip-off" the
public. To give them the benefit of the doubt, I figured that they made
the
syrup watery because if it was thick, because of the number of people who
are served, it would take forever for people to put the stuff on their
pancakes. My questions a does thickness vary by region, and does flavor
vary by region. I place some of the blame on myself, because when I was in
high school in the sixties I brushed with McClean's toothpaste which had
such a wild flavor that I think it may have destroyed my tastebuds.

Tom



Maple syrup is made by boiling down the sap - often by a factor of 5 or 10
(not sure of the exact number). Thickness depends mostly on how much it is
boiled down - so does intensity of flavor. THey may havre made the syrup
thin to be sure to have enough for everyone and because of time constraints.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

"mary" wrote in message
...
Today I attended a maple syrup festival where pancakes were served with
maple syrup made from the sap of trees located in the park. First the
syrup
had the viscosity a little thicker than water. Secondly there did not
appear to be much "maple" flavor. I am not sure if I have ever had "real"
maple syrup before, but the stuff I buy at the "dollar store" seemed to
have
more flavor. Now, the group that sponsers this event has been doing it for
over twenty-five years, and I am sure they do not plan to "rip-off" the
public. To give them the benefit of the doubt, I figured that they made
the
syrup watery because if it was thick, because of the number of people who
are served, it would take forever for people to put the stuff on their
pancakes. My questions a does thickness vary by region, and does flavor
vary by region. I place some of the blame on myself, because when I was in
high school in the sixties I brushed with McClean's toothpaste which had
such a wild flavor that I think it may have destroyed my tastebuds.

Tom



Thickness and flavor vary by grade and cooking time. Real maple syrup as
others have said isn't as strongly flavored or as thick as pancake syrup.
Maple syrup boiled to becoming maple sugar isn't as intense in flavor as
imitation maple syrup. Thickness only varies based on how much of the water
was boiled off from the sap. Flavor varies very slightly by region, the
maple syrup from Maine is the best. ;-) Okay I'm partial, some might say
Vermont has the best maple syrup.

Jessica

On Sun, 04 Apr 2004 20:30:32 GMT, hahabogus wrote:

Wayne Boatwright wrote in
:

"mary" wrote in
:

Today I attended a maple syrup festival where pancakes were served
with maple syrup made from the sap of trees located in the park.
First the syrup had the viscosity a little thicker than water.
Secondly there did not appear to be much "maple" flavor. I am not
sure if I have ever had "real" maple syrup before, but the stuff I
buy at the "dollar store" seemed to have more flavor. Now, the group
that sponsers this event has been doing it for over twenty-five
years, and I am sure they do not plan to "rip-off" the public. To
give them the benefit of the doubt, I figured that they made the
syrup watery because if it was thick, because of the number of people
who are served, it would take forever for people to put the stuff on
their pancakes. My questions a does thickness vary by region, and
does flavor vary by region. I place some of the blame on myself,
because when I was in high school in the sixties I brushed with
McClean's toothpaste which had such a wild flavor that I think it may
have destroyed my tastebuds.

Tom

IMHO, real maple syrup is always thinner the artificially flavored
"pancake" and table syrups. As to the flavor, well it's easy to
concentrate artificial flavors and that's apparently what you're used
to. The lack of flavor you found might be from the sap itself or the
processing into syrup. I doubt McClean's had anything to do with it.

Wayne


Also there are grades of maple syrup. Grade A looks better (isn't as dark)
than Grade B. But Grade B tastes better than Grade A.

Perhaps they made grade A syrup?

At our Greenmarket, there are maple producers from VT and NY. I
usually get VT Grade B, which is dark and quite intense. The NY place
also has light and dark Grade A. I tried the dark Grade A and it seems
more intense than the VT B, although its color is very similar.

Neither of these is really thin. I don't know the viscosity of the
artificial syrups in comparison because I haven't used any for many
years.

Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a


"Wanting to meet a writer because you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like pate."
Margaret Atwood

"Rodney Myrvaagnes" wrote in message
...
At our Greenmarket, there are maple producers from VT and NY. I
usually get VT Grade B, which is dark and quite intense. The NY place
also has light and dark Grade A. I tried the dark Grade A and it seems
more intense than the VT B, although its color is very similar.

I was surprised to read other posts saying that real maple syrup is not as
strongly flavored as pancake syrup. It doesn't taste the same for sure, but
I would say the taste of real maple syrup is much more intense. The only
pancake syrup I've ever tasted that would come anywhere close to the real
thing is Aunt Jemima with 35% maple syrup. Give me the real thing any day.

And for a previous poster, the average ratio of sap to syrup is 40:1

http://journal.maine.com/lore/crabtr...206001295.html

: "Gabby"

I was surprised to read other posts saying that real maple syrup is not as
strongly flavored as pancake syrup.

Depends which grade...

http://www.massmaple.org/grading.html



---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

"mary" wrote in message ...
Today I attended a maple syrup festival where pancakes were served with
maple syrup made from the sap of trees located in the park. First the syrup
had the viscosity a little thicker than water. Secondly there did not
appear to be much "maple" flavor. I am not sure if I have ever had "real"
maple syrup before,

I just did a quick web search and the site I went to said that after
boiling the maple sap into syrup, the ratio of maple sap to finished
maple syrup is 30:1.

I don't know what imitation maple syrup is like, I only use the real
stuff. But the syrup I use is fairly thick. So it seems to me, a non
maple syrup maker, that if the taste wasn't there and it was runny,
they didn't boil the sap enough and ended at a ratio of 20:1 or
whatever instead of 30:1.

Ain't the web wonderful?

Ken

Mark Thorson wrote:

mary wrote:

Today I attended a maple syrup festival where pancakes were served
with maple syrup made from the sap of trees located in the park.
First the syrup had the viscosity a little thicker than water.
Secondly there did not appear to be much "maple" flavor.

That's the way it comes from the tree. You boil it down to
make it thicker and darker.

I'd like to try "fresh" maple syrup someday, just to see
what it's like. However, as you found, it probably isn't
much like what most folks are used to.

I doubt that they were actually serving maple sap
on the pancakes. I go to a maple festival in Meyersdale,
PA every couple of years. The Lions Club has an all-
you-can-eat pancake breakfast and it's real maple syrup.
Real maple syrup is nothing like fake, maple-flavored
syrup. So, it would be easy for someone to think the
real stuff might have been watered down. That would
never happen. Most of the people who go to a Maple
Festival anywhere are going to be lovers of real maple
syrup and there would be an outcry of horror if what
you're suggesting were the case.

Kate
--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

Peter Aitken wrote:

"mary" wrote in message
...
Today I attended a maple syrup festival where pancakes were served with
maple syrup made from the sap of trees located in the park. First the
syrup
had the viscosity a little thicker than water. Secondly there did not
appear to be much "maple" flavor. I am not sure if I have ever had "real"
maple syrup before, but the stuff I buy at the "dollar store" seemed to
have
more flavor. Now, the group that sponsers this event has been doing it for
over twenty-five years, and I am sure they do not plan to "rip-off" the
public. To give them the benefit of the doubt, I figured that they made
the
syrup watery because if it was thick, because of the number of people who
are served, it would take forever for people to put the stuff on their
pancakes. My questions a does thickness vary by region, and does flavor
vary by region. I place some of the blame on myself, because when I was in
high school in the sixties I brushed with McClean's toothpaste which had
such a wild flavor that I think it may have destroyed my tastebuds.

Tom



Maple syrup is made by boiling down the sap - often by a factor of 5 or 10
(not sure of the exact number). Thickness depends mostly on how much it is
boiled down - so does intensity of flavor. THey may havre made the syrup
thin to be sure to have enough for everyone and because of time constraints.

Actually, I believe it takes about 40 gallons of sap to
make one gallon of syrup.
Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

Jessica Vincent wrote Flavor varies very slightly by region, the
maple syrup from Maine is the best. ;-) Okay I'm partial, some might say
Vermont has the best maple syrup.

Nope, Pennsylvania!

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

Kate Connally wrote:

Peter Aitken wrote:

"mary" wrote in message
...

Today I attended a maple syrup festival where pancakes were served with
maple syrup made from the sap of trees located in the park. First the
syrup had the viscosity a little thicker than water. Secondly there did not
appear to be much "maple" flavor. I am not sure if I have ever had "real"
maple syrup before, but the stuff I buy at the "dollar store" seemed to
have more flavor. Now, the group that sponsers this event has been doing it for
over twenty-five years, and I am sure they do not plan to "rip-off" the
public. To give them the benefit of the doubt, I figured that they made
the syrup watery because if it was thick, because of the number of people who
are served, it would take forever for people to put the stuff on their
pancakes. My questions a does thickness vary by region, and does flavor
vary by region. I place some of the blame on myself, because when I was in
high school in the sixties I brushed with McClean's toothpaste which had
such a wild flavor that I think it may have destroyed my tastebuds.

Tom

Maple syrup is made by boiling down the sap - often by a factor of 5 or 10
(not sure of the exact number). Thickness depends mostly on how much it is
boiled down - so does intensity of flavor. THey may havre made the syrup
thin to be sure to have enough for everyone and because of time constraints.

Actually, I believe it takes about 40 gallons of sap to
make one gallon of syrup.

It varies depending on desired viscosity, color and sweetness. Starts
at about 35 to 1 and can go as high as 50 to 1, as often happens here
in the western mountains of Virginia. Every year in Monterey, VA,
there's a maple festival with eating going on everywhere, not all of
it to do with maple stuff. There's a website IIRC.

Pastorio

Mark Thorson wrote in news:40706BF8.D560B956
@sonic.net:

mary wrote:

Today I attended a maple syrup festival where pancakes were served
with maple syrup made from the sap of trees located in the park.
First the syrup had the viscosity a little thicker than water.
Secondly there did not appear to be much "maple" flavor.

That's the way it comes from the tree. You boil it down to
make it thicker and darker.

I'd like to try "fresh" maple syrup someday, just to see
what it's like. However, as you found, it probably isn't
much like what most folks are used to.

It's what I'm used to. In fact, I won't buy anything other than the
extra light (Canadian grading system) and my wife who was eating
medium syrup (darker and sweeter although probably not as sweet as
your grade B) now appreciates the lightest syrup and insists on that
as well. My daughter only uses Aunt Jemima glop. She's 22 years
old, where have I failed her? The proof that lighter syrup is better
tasting is in the eating :-)

--

Il faudrait que tout le monde réclame
Auprès des autorités
Une loi contre toute notre indifférence
Que personne ne soit oublié

Carla Bruni, «Tout le monde»