I know a guy who lives above this shack, the operation is done by his son along with a few of his buddies. They all live nearby I think. They are building a much larger building uphill and to the left of the shack, gonna be a knick-knack place, maybe food or something, don't remember what they told me for sure. I'm quite sure none of them are making a living doing the syrup though, it's just a fun thing for young guys. A cousin of mine in PA was doing it back in the '80s and probably still is -- I've lost touch with him though. He had a commercial evaporator and set it up in his machine shop in the spring. As he said once, it's the first crop of the season. Around here the sap starts to run in late February - early March (depending on temps and sun) and they quit doing it once there are tiny buds on the trees (early April) -- sap's no good at that point. I see you're in Virginia -- do they make it there? If so, the season would probably be a few weeks earlier than it is here.
I don't know. I've been drinking it for a couple of years. I bought it pretty regularly on Amazon until a few months into Dr. Fauci's virus. Around the time that toilet paper and paper towels began to be in short supply, it was no longer available on Amazon. After going without for a while, I ordered a case of it from the SAP! website. They took my money but, more than a month later, I remembered that I had never received it. I went back to the company's website and found that they were out of stock there too, so I wrote to them about a refund. I don't know if they were planning on shipping it whenever it became available again or if they were just going to keep my money. Only recently, I found that it was available on Amazon again, but in limited numbers, so I ordered a case, which is supposed to be here tomorrow.
I see that the current company (the guys on Shark Tank) was established in 2015 Smith & Salmon. They went on the show circa 2017...they did not get investors. I saw that Amazon said something like "Often out of stock." I also see that Walmart sells it.
That's a short season for so far north. I'm surprised, but I know nothing of the craft. I was commenting earlier that I had seen some of the Virginia producers featured on the local farming shows. I see there are at least 7 producers in Highland County on the West VA line...I found no mention of any others. They would be about a 2 hour drive for me (at the posted speed limit), according to mapping software, so it's likely 15 to 30 minutes shorter than that. It's funny, I would not have thought that we are cold enough to produce syrup, or temperate enough to grow grapes/produce wine, but we do both.
I’ve never thought about it, but if you have sugar maples and they drop their leaves in the fall, then the spring sap has to flow to start the cycle over again. Also, I’m guessing the season length would not change with the latitude, it would just come earlier as you go south.
I don't know. I just read this brief article on the different sap seasons in the regions of Michigan, and this one regarding how climate change will create sap winners and sap losers, but still don't completely understand how it works. They both have conclusions with no supporting details, assuming a base of knowledge on the part of the reader. I don't understand the drivers.
Yes, as I noted before, the weather affects the season. If it stays colder longer than usual then the sap won’t flow and the season would be delayed. As I recall, nights below freezing and sunny warm days are ideal for sap flow. And if it gets and stays warm early, like mid-late March around here, then the trees would bud earlier than usual and the season would end.
At least that’s my understanding of it. I remember my uncle making syrup on the farm when I was a little kid. We’d make a batch and then he’d get a bucket of clean snow. He would drizzle the syrup over the snow and we’d eat it with a fork. Great fun for kids. I think there’s a name for that snack, but I don’t recall what it is.
I've never heard of that. I just looked it up. Apparently the hot syrup (235°) seizes/solidifies into a taffy-like substance when it hits the cold snow. You don't eat the snow (it's not a snow cone), you eat the syrup taffy. I'll bet it was good.
They changed the design of their cans. I preferred the original design but then, I usually prefer the original design. Although it's been a while since I've had any, I think it tastes a little different. There are 10 fewer calories so that probably explains the slight difference in the taste.
It takes marketing genius to put the word "SAP!" on a label and still induce us to buy it. I love this country.
I just came back from my walk, but I remembered my phone this time so I took some pix of the Timber Trails Forest Farm that I mentioned in a previous post.
We have a Wisconsin specialty shop near here that, besides cheese, sausage, honey etc they have a maple soda in bottles. Don't remember the name. My daughter loves it. I don't care for it. Probably because it does not come in diet.