I enjoy trying new things as long as they don't sound too disgusting, so I decided to try some of this stuff. Sap! Maple Soda is 100% pure maple sap that has been carbonated. I expected something that was going to be overly sweet, but it wasn't. I can't say that I love it, but I don't hate it, and could probably acquire a taste for it. I know I'll try it again because I bought two cans. A 12-oz can has 16 grams of sugar, 20 grams of carbs, 110 milligrams of potassium, and 90 calories. Ingredients: Carbonated Maple Sap
I had a friend in Pennsylvania who owned a sugar bush, and he used to cook hot dogs in the sap.syrup and serve them with a cup of the partially reduced sap. They loved it, but I found it way too sweet. Here we make birch syrup, but it is more like molasses than maple syrup.
I have never heard of birch syrup, @Don Alaska , but it sounds interesting. We don’t have any birch trees that I have seen down here , but when we lived in Idaho, we had a lot of birch, and alder, which looks similar. We used to make a cut on the blister of a balsam tree, and that little bit of balsam sap that came out was extremely healing, when used on any kind of a wound. I don’t think that we ever tried tasting any of it, so I don’t know if it tastes good or not, and it would be hard to get enough out in any case.
I remember working/or having fun in a smoky old sugar shack. I remember the sap that came in was just a light flavored and sweet. I see how that could make a good soda. Interesting never seen it. I also visited a newer maple syrup maker who used revers osmosis to take off the extra water instead of boiling.
I have had birch beer (non-alcoholic) and like it. I have thought about tapping some of our trees since birch is one of the more common trees on our land up north. I haven't found a single sugar maple, though.
Birch sap has lower sugar content and has a lower pH, so you can't use metal taps and you have to boil it longer. We were part of a co-op for a few years that we sold sap to based on the brix of the sap. As @Martin Alonzo said above, they use a RO membrane to concentrate the sap and reduce the boiling time. Pure birch syrup is similar in taste to good molasses, but many commercial operators now mix it with other syrups and fruit to make it more agreeable to national tastes.
We had sugar maple trees that would be tapped in the spring, then boiled down for maple syrup and maple candies. Until recently, however, I had never heard of tapping a birch tree. I prefer birch beer to root beer, though, although I like both, but try to limit the amount of sodas that I buy. I think I mentioned it here, somewhere, but I can't find it; not long ago, I tried some Sap! Maple Soda that I liked a lot. The only ingredient was carbonated maple sap so, because it hadn't been boiled down to a syrup, it had a pleasant maple flavor without being overly sweet. Today, I tried the Sap! Birch, which contains: Organic birch sap, CO2, and citric acid. It's not nearly as good as the Sap! Maple Soda, but it's not bad. Anyhow, we have a hundred acres of woods up north but, in all of my walks through our land, I haven't found any sugar maples, or even any maple trees, but we have a lot of birch trees. Until recently, I had never heard of anyone tapping a birch tree but I see that it's done pretty much the same as a sugar maple. My problem would be getting in there in time to tap them because there's a fairly short window of time, in the spring after the trees begin to bud but before the leaves appear. During that time, we either still have snow on the ground or it's mud season, neither of which are good for my being able to get back there in my Tracker. I am also learning that birch trees are more likely than maple to sustain infection after tapping. Have any of you tapped birch trees?
I wish that I had known about this back when I lived in north Idaho, and I am sure that I would have tried it at least once ! Tasting more like molasses than maple syrup would be fine with me, too. I really like molasses, and sorghum (which is made from the grain of the same name) , and I don’t think that I have ever had true maple syrup , just the cheap imitation stuff like log cabin or Mrs. Butterworths.
That, I have had plenty of. My dad made it when I was a kid, and I have a friend here who has his own brand of maple syrup, sold locally. I buy it in the store, but I kind of like knowing who made it. Thanks for merging the threads; I don't know why I couldn't find the first one.
I thought I remembered that someone had done that, but I couldn't find that thread for some reason. Do you use the birch syrup as you would maple? Have you tried cooling the sap and drinking it as it comes, without boiling it down?
We drank it and made coffee with it straight out of the tree. I don't think we had any trouble with infection as you mentioned, but we only tapped the bigger trees. We also used it to water our goats in the spring, and they really loved the stuff. I didn't have any way to carbonate it. We still have the taps and stuff, but we no longer tap trees...it is too much work for us old folks. If birch syrup is concentrated, it is more dark than maple syrup and stronger tasting. We used it in any way we used molasses, such as in ginger cookies and gingerbread. If we used it on pancakes ort waffles, we diluted it to make it more palatable. Use plastic taps if you tap your trees, as the birch sap will etch metal taps used for maple trees.
I always thought it was red birch that was tapped for syrup. I have 12 Maples I have tapped. This year is a good run, below freezing everynite and into the forties by noon. Sap is running hard. I am hoping to net aout 2 gallons of syrup. Mine is not a good as it was in my childhood. Maybe nostalgia? I don't have a syrup pan so I evaporate on the kitchen range,less than ideal to say the least..When I was a child we had a sugar shack and the sap was evaporated over a low hardwood fire. Imported a dark smokey quality to the syrup.
Apparently, any kind of maple tree can be tapped for syrup, but sugar maple is best. That doesn't help me because I don't think I have any maple trees on my property.
I buy a case of Sap! Maple Soda every couple of months. It's a bit on the expensive side but it's cheaper buying it by the case than from the only store in town that carries it, and charges more than $2 a can. If it weren't so expensive, I'd have some in stock all the time. A case came in a few moments ago. Ingredients: Organic maple sap, CO2, citric acid. That's it.
Once you've had pure maple syrup, Yvonne, the Log Cabin and Mrs. Butterworths will never do. They are mostly corn syrup with a hint of maple flavor. It has ten fewer calories than the original recipe did, so that probably explains it.