I’m back to packing more syrup. Sales have been brisk to say the least, especially at my local outlet.
I also met an old friend from way back when I was a paper boy from ages 10-14. The brother of a classmate I graduated highschool with stopped to shop at my local outlet. They bought all of one size jug I had on the shelves and requested more. The next day I restocked all sizes and by chance that customer stopped in while I was filling the shelves. I spoke with them at length and it turned out that he and his wife live in Hawaii now and whenever they come back to central NY they stop in and buy a good quantity of my syrup, not to sell, but to give to their friends in Hawaii. They told me that at one point they had a few different producer’s syrup and they conducted a taste test to compare the syrups. They said my syrup won hands down, that pleased me for sure.
This week I packed a batch of syrup and in about 2-3 weeks my next batch of bourbon barrel aged maple syrup should be ready. Actually I’ll open the barrel likely late next week to sample it, if the taste is a good balance between maple and bourbon, it will be ready. I like a balance where the flavors seem to be about equal. If it’s not quite there yet, I’ll recap the bung, rotate the barrel once and retest about 2 weeks later. However if the taste is slightly more towards the bourbon end I’ll blend in a few gallons of regular syrup to balance it out. That’s an option I’ve never had to do yet, but it’s certainly a possibility. That barrel is a 30 gal barrel. I also have 2 other 30 gal barrels but they won’t be ready until Aug-or September 2025. A 30 gal barrel takes 9-10 months to reach the perfect balance of flavors.
Sales have been so good I’m afraid I may run out before the 2025 season starts. Depending on the weather it could start as soon as late Jan or as late as late March. Over the years since 2003 when I first started making enough syrup to sell some my earliest first boil was Jan 27 and my latest first boil was March 28. It all depends on the weather, to get sap flow I need freezing nights and days in the high 30’s to the low 50’s. The best flows are when the days hit 42-48F after an overnight freeze of 27F or colder. Lately the first boils have trended earlier but it can vary considerably in any given year.