Summer is usually our slowest season for syrup sales, but the this summer and last, were our busiest ever. We do not do farmer’s markets, because we sell everything we make by the 3 ways we now sell. First is off this website, second is at my one retail outlet (The Eclectic Chic, in Oneida Castle, NY) and third is sales from the sugarhouse and my home. Still our bourbon barrel aged maple syrup is our # 1 selling item by dollar sales.
I will need to bottle more syrup soon, I hope the temperature cools down a lot, I don’t do well in 90+ temperatures with high humidity when working over a bottler that is at 185-187 degrees. Outside temperatures in the 60’s is far better when bottling. However, at some point I may need to bottle at whatever the outside temperature is if I get close to selling out of syrup. I still have stainless steel barrels of syrup in reserve, one of Golden, 2 of Amber and maybe 2 or 3 of dark. I sell very little Golden and lots of dark so when I pack some of the golden for retail, I’ll likely blend the rest of the golden with a barrel of dark, which will make it all dark. It takes very little darker syrup to change a light one to dark, and not only attain the dark color but also achieve a proper taste for dark.
My next batch of bourbon barrel aged maple syrup should be ready in about 4-5 weeks too, then I’ll have to pack that in retail bottles. At this time I still have a good inventory, but I’ll need more to keep up with the demand as Christmas orders start coming in, especially as a few customers order a whole case for gift giving and personal use.
Tomorrow I will be splitting more firewood, in the morning, until it gets too hot out. The logs have been cut and stacked for 2-5 years, I just need to split and stack. My wood splitter is fast, even though I split everything to wrist size. The 1.5 second cycle time moves along quickly. ( check out “Super Split” to see one in action. )