Drawing of a maple tree with a tap dripping sap

how maple syrup is made

the maple guide

Real maple syrup has one ingredient and a short season. Here's how sap from a tree becomes the syrup in your tin, and why so much of it comes from Vermont.

from tree to tin

four steps, one ingredient

  1. the sap runs

    Sugaring season in Vermont usually starts in March and lasts four to six weeks. Sap flows when nights drop below freezing and days warm up into the 40s.

  2. the trees are tapped

    A small spout goes into each sugar maple, and the sap is collected as it drips out. It looks like water and tastes only faintly sweet.

  3. the sap is boiled

    We boil ours over a wood-burning fire. The water steams away until what's left is syrup. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon.

  4. it's graded and tinned

    Finished syrup is graded by its color and flavor, then sealed in a tin. Nothing added, never blended.

the grades

lighter early, darker late

All pure maple syrup sold in stores is Grade A. What changes is the color and the flavor, and both get deeper as the season goes on. We make Amber and Dark.

  • Golden

    delicate taste

    Usually made at the start of the season. Light and mild.

  • Amber

    rich taste

    Usually made mid-season. Warm and smooth with caramel notes. The one that goes on everything.

    shop Amber

  • Dark

    robust taste

    Made later in the season. Deeper and bolder. Built for cooking and baking.

    shop Dark

  • Very Dark

    strong taste

    Made at the very end of the season. The strongest maple flavor, mostly used in cooking.

why Vermont

more maple than anywhere else in the US

Vermont makes more maple syrup than any other state. In 2026 it produced about 3.1 million gallons, a little over half of all the maple syrup made in the country.

About three quarters of the state is forest. Sugar maples do well in its cool, fertile soil, and its springs bring the freezing nights and mild days that make sap run.

Vermont also holds its syrup to a higher standard than the federal one. It has to be a little thicker, and it can only be called Vermont maple syrup if it is 100% pure and made entirely in Vermont.

pure maple or pancake syrup

check the label

By law, all the sugar in maple syrup has to come from maple sap. Pancake syrup is a different product. If the label says pure maple syrup, that's the real thing. Ours has one ingredient.

the real thing

pure maple syrup

  • One ingredient: maple sap
  • Made by boiling sap until it becomes syrup
  • Graded by its color and flavor
  • All of its sugar comes from maple sap

the other stuff

pancake syrup

  • Usually flavored corn syrup
  • Can have flavors and colors added
  • Often has no maple in it at all
  • Contains added sugar

at home

keeping it and cooking with it

  1. keep it cold once it's open

    Store unopened tins somewhere cool. After opening, keep your syrup in the fridge. You can freeze it too, and it won't freeze solid. 

  2. bake with it

    Swapping maple syrup for sugar? Use ¾ cup maple syrup for every 1 cup of sugar, reduce the other liquid by 2–4 tablespoons, and lower your oven temperature by 25°F.

  3. pick your grade

    Amber is for the table: pancakes, waffles, and just about everything else. Dark is for cooking and baking, when you want more maple flavor to come through.

shop the syrup