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We are very lucky that DH travels quite often to New England and picks up local maple syrup in Vermont. We try them all. However, Coombs Family Farms is a top-rated maple syrup and I know that you can get it in quite a few places. I am planning on trying it soon just to see if it is as good as what DH brings home.
Most Vermont sap is brought to co-op sugar houses to get processed. They toss it in one of four vats classified by "golden", "amber", "dark", and "very dark" along with sap from other farms and boil it down to make syrup. Other than putting a sticker on the container, there's no difference between the same grade syrup from pretty much any farm.
The grades and what constitutes each grade of syrup is specified by Vermont law. There's really no such thing as "top-rated maple syrup".
That said, I pretty much always buy Quebec syrup. Quebec produces far more maple syrup than the United States and it's cheaper.
Other than making pecan pies with Karo, HFCS doesn't ever enter my house. In a restaurant, I won't order pancakes, waffles, or French toast if they don't have maple syrup. As a little kid, I grew up on the "Vermont Maid" fake HFCS stuff. I prefer real maple syrup.
As you can see in the following table, the province of Quebec is the world's largest producer of maple syrup in the world by a long shot. If the world warms up as much as the wildest climate change estimates go... it will still be freakin cold in Quebec. LOL
Top States/Provinces Producer of Maple Syrup
Province of Quebec, Canada: 7, 989,000 gallons harvested.
State of Vermont, USA: 890,000 gallons harvested.
Province of Ontario, Canada: 400,000 gallons harvested. *
State of New York, USA: 312,000 gallons harvested.
State of Maine, USA: 310,000 gallons harvested.
Province of New Brunswick, Canada: 300,000 gallons harvested.*
State of Wisconsin, USA: 117,000 gallons harvested.
State of New Hampshire, USA: 87,000 gallons harvested.
State of Michigan, USA: 82, 000 gallons harvested.
State of Ohio, USA: 65,000 gallons harvested.
State of Pennsylvania, USA: 54,000 gallons harvested.
State of Massachusetts, USA: 29,000 gallons harvested.
Province of Nova Scotia, Canada: 22, 000 gallons harvested. *
State of Connecticut, USA: 9,000 gallons harvested.
I'll only eat real maple syrup. My mother's family came from Vermont so there's no settling for the fake stuff. I LOVE maple syrup. The grading of the syrup was always confusing and I used to save a little bit by getting a darker grade. Looks like they're standardizing the system now.
So, you've shown us the price for a 5 gallon container of maple syrup to prove you point. You're not impressing me here.
Maple syrup has many health benefits and is a natural anti-inflammatory. It's a no brainer substitute for simple sugars found in most brand name syrups on the market, and it's worth the small cost (~60 cents an ounce) for a bottle that will last over a month. Since you don't like it, don't buy it. Why start a thread about it?
I love maple syrup, though I don't use much. A jug from Costco (about $19 for a liter) lasts me a long time. Fortunately, it keeps well in the fridge.
Pure maple syrup is a luxury item and yes, it is expensive. If it's not worth it to you, use the cheap corn syrup alternative. I think that stuff is nasty myself, but many people who grew up on prefer it to real maple, apparently because it's "thicker."
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Maple syrup
