The Morse family’s ancestors – who helped settle Central Vermont – were taught how to tap maple tress by Native Americans. In those early years, they used hot rocks to evaporate the maple tree sap until only sugar remained. This process was called “sugarin’.”
Later, after the American Revolutionary War, improved transportation helped bring cheaper sugar from the south – which led sugar makers to boil their product less, allowing it to stay in the more popular syrup stage.
Burr Morse takes the mystery out of the maple tapping process, talks about the flavor variations and grades of syrup and shares a few of his favorite recipes.
Maple facts:
On the average, it takes 40 gallons of maple sap to make 1 gallon of pure maple syrup. One tap hole is drilled in each maple tree, which gives 10 gallons of sap in an average year. So, 4 maple trees, 40 to 200 years old, are needed to make one gallon of pure maple syrup.
For more details about the history of maple syrup and additional recipes, visit the Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks website.
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