Single-forest maple syrup comes from one forest, instead of being combined with syrup from many different places. You might also see it called single-origin maple syrup. Sticky is single forest: every tin comes from one Vermont forest, and it's never blended.
Two ways syrup gets to you
Sugar makers come in all sizes, from a single tap to more than 250,000. Plenty of them pack their own syrup and sell it themselves: at the sugarhouse, on their websites, and at farmers markets and fairs. Much more syrup leaves the farm in bulk, in barrels and drums, for someone else to pack. Both are honest ways to sell syrup.
Where most maple syrup goes
Most of it goes the second way. In 2025, USDA figures counted about 4.4 million of the 5.7 million gallons made in the US as bulk sales. That's more than three out of every four gallons. In Vermont, it was about 2.7 million of 3 million gallons, close to nine in ten.
Bulk means big containers. Vermont's rules define bulk maple syrup as syrup packed in containers of more than five gallons. The containers you buy at the store hold five gallons or less, and the rules call that packaged syrup.
Someone has to fill those smaller containers. Vermont licenses the dealers and processors who buy syrup from others to package it for resale. A processor buys 2,500 gallons or more a year. Sugar makers who process and pack their own syrup don't need that license.
Why a lot of syrup ends up blended
Sticky started from an obsession with maple, and from noticing that a lot of the maple syrup in stores is blended from many different forests. That isn't a knock on anyone's syrup. Syrup differs from producer to producer and from year to year, and a University of Maine guide notes that a sugar maker can blend different runs of syrup to get a more uniform product.
Single-forest syrup goes the other way. Instead of evening out the differences, it keeps to one place.
Is single-forest syrup better?
That's up to you. Single forest tells you where the syrup came from: one forest, never blended with anyone else's. The grade is what tells you about flavor: Golden is delicate, Amber is rich, Dark is robust and Very Dark is strong. What single forest does give you is a clear answer to a simple question: where did this come from? The Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association suggests tasting your syrup every year, since each year's syrup is different.
What single forest means at Sticky
The back of our tin puts it in one line: "From a single forest to your table." Here's what you get in every tin:
- One forest. All of it comes from a single forest in Vermont. It's tapped from 600 maple trees.
- Never blended. It isn't mixed with syrup from anywhere else.
- Wood-fired. It's boiled over a wood-burning fire.
- One ingredient. No additives. The front of the tin says "100% pure maple syrup."
- Grade A. In two color classes, Amber and Dark.
- Made in USA. It says so right on the tin.
Our Amber and Dark are two moments in that forest's season. Amber usually comes about mid-season, and Dark comes later, as the syrup darkens and its flavor gets more robust.
Choosing between them comes down to how you'll use it. Amber is warm and smooth with caramel notes, the one that goes on everything. Dark is deep and robust, built for cooking and baking. Both come in 8 fl oz and 16 fl oz tins.
What a label can and can't tell you
Labels help, up to a point. A retail container of pure maple syrup should name the producer or packer, with a business name and address. A Vermont label means something specific, too: in Vermont, syrup can only be labeled as a Vermont product if it's 100 percent pure maple syrup made entirely in Vermont. That's a big category. Vermont made about 3.1 million gallons in 2026, a little over half of all US maple syrup.
Neither of those tells you how many forests the syrup came from. A Vermont label means every drop was made in Vermont, but it could still come from many different forests. If origin matters to you, look for a brand that tells you where its sap comes from. Our guide to maple syrup labels covers the rest.
