If you go old school and open up a dictionary, the kind you had in your elementary school classroom, and look up "science" and "love" you'll find:

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  systematic knowledge of the physical world gained through observation and experimentation

AND

a great interest and pleasure in something

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We're keen to believe both are at the core of our fine syrup production.

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Trees are incredible bio machines.  Remember learning about photosynthesis in school?  That's the super cool process plants and trees use to convert light into energy.  More specifically, our trees (your's too) use light energy to turn carbon dioxide and water into sugar.  These sugars flow through the tree powering it's cellular processes, vitality and growth.  Our maple and birch trees are busy producing and using their sugar during warm spring and summer months.  When the weather turns cooler and winter moves in, that sugar hunkers down in the roots as starch.  The natural rhythms of the seasons drive the cycles of sugar production and storage.  Our ancient ancestors figured this out and we're still honoring that indigenous knowledge today.

In the weeks prior to the first shifts from winter to spring, we tap our beloved trees.  Warmer temperatures wake up our trees and trigger the conversion of stored starch back into sugar.  During this internal process, ground water mixes with the sugar and produces the sap we harvest. It takes about 40 gallons of maple sap to make a gallon of maple syrup and more than 100 gallons of birch sap to make a gallon of birch syrup. 

The weather is a crucial element in our production process.  The sugaring season depends on cold nights that drop to freezing temperatures, and warmer days that reach thawing temperatures (but not too warm).  This freezing and thawing cycle creates pressure in our trees and results in flowing sap. 

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We utilize modern science in the form of reverse osmosis to remove some of the water from our delicately sweet sap before we boil it.  This adds an element of efficiency to our operation.  Sap must be boiled to make our fine syrup. Our rig is still wood-fired.  We like the tradition of burning wood and the exercise it provides. Boiling the sap results in evaporation and the additional removal of water.  During a boil, the sugarhouse is thick with steam that rolls out into the crisp air.  We think a sugarhouse steam bath must have health benefits.  It's certainly good for the soul!  As the water evaporates, the remaining sugar thickens.  At just the right time we draw it off for finishing, filtering, grading and bottling.

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And there you have it: SCIENCE + LOVE, it's something fine.

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