I opened the barrel of dark syrup I have and heated it to filter, then into the bottler. I then tested the grade. It seems the barrel was misslabled, it was not dark (light transmission 49-25%) but rather extra dark (light transmission , under 25%, it was 16%) I did have 1 jug 5 gal of dark. I packed the 2 half gal I had on an order to ship, the rest, in sizes 1/2 gal, qt, and pint finished off the dark, which I delivered to my only local retail outlet because the shelves were empty.
Tomorrow I’ll open the last barrel of regular syrup I have until the 2026 season starts, It’s labled Amber, if that proves correct I’ll have Amber available in the onlne store in a few days, if it has darkened, I’ll have Dark. I’ll know soon and post what it graded.
I know I had told a good customer from Hawaii that I’d have more dark in half pints, sorry, I don’t have it, unless this amber became dark. Syrup does darken immediately after packing, sometimes 2-3 % (light Transmission) sometimes significantly more, time will tell.
Whichever it is I’ll post here and also add the counts to the store inventory.