May 2018

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The 2018 sugaring season is almost wrapped up, all that remains is a weekend of cleaning the evaporator and sugarhouse.  Once again, the length of the season was extended to a new record, twelve days beyond last year's season, with boils from February 21st to April 26th.  And, once again, we had long periods during that span when it was too cold for the sap to run.  We essentially had three mini-seasons when the conditions were right.  Some sugarmakers made syrup for five months, from January to May!  Gone are the days of a six week concentrated season. 

There were two themes to this season, wind, and medium amber (now called Amber Rich).  The first challenging, the second rewarding.  Several large wind events caused extensive damage in the woods, which required a lot of extra work to maintain the pipeline system that delivers the sap to the sugarhouse.  If you are a fan of our dark syrup, supplies are limited, so order early.  About 90% of this year's crop was a nice consistent, rich-flavored medium amber.  Overall, production came in at 85% crop.

A journalist from the Canadian publication La Tere paid a visit while doing a story on the influx of investor capital into the maple industry in Vermont.  Our neighbor, Sweet Tree, is now the largest sugaring operation in the world.  Naturally, the journalist wanted to see how this modern day gold rush impacts smaller producers like ourselves.  In a nutshell, these new massive operations are putting downward pressure on the bulk syrup market to the point where it is not profitable for an operation of our size to sell syrup in 40 gallon barrels.  

Please take a few moments to view a couple of the videos from his story.  Having not been inside the Sweet Tree facility (mix of French and English video), I was fascinated by the scale.  Here are  OFM's thoughts (English video) on the matter.

I would love to hear your thoughts and reactions to these pieces!

Featured Products

Two Half-Gallons

Two Half-Gallons of Amber with Rich Taste.
One  for now,  one for later.
Certified Organic.  

$82.50 - includes shipping 
anywhere in the U.S


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Two Liters

Web Special - Two 1000 ml glass jugs.
Two Liters of Amber with Rich Taste.
The perfect size for the fridge.
Certified Organic.    

 

$60.00 - includes shipping 
anywhere in the U.S.


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Recipe of the Season

Instead of drinking Corona this Cinco de Mayo, jazz things up with this simple maple margarita recipe.

Maple Margarita

 
INGREDIENTS

  • 1.5 ounces fresh squeezed lime juice
  • 1 ounce good quality tequila
  • .5 ounce OFM maple syrup to taste
  • coarse sea salt for rimming glasses
  • lime wedges for serving
 

DIRECTIONS

  1. Run a wedge of lime along the rim of a glass, and dip the edge in coarse sea salt.
  2. Add the lime juice, tequila, and pure maple syrup to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake until chilled (if using a metal shaker, the bottom of the shaker should frost over). Serve margarita over ice (Note: double or triple the recipe if serving more people)

Slightly modified by OFM from the source: www.theroastedroot.net

Contact me for custom orders... larger quantities, wedding favors, custom glass jugs, etc.  Big, small, short, tall, we can do it all!
 
AdiĆ³s mi amigo,
 
Jon Osborne
Osborne Family Maple
802-793-6318