by Deanna Nelson | Apr 18, 2015 | blog, sap house notes |
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Paul is busy finishing the late syrups, but we have multiple reviews for the majority of the spring season. What are your favorites? The buttery tones, vanilla, honey-citrus? Each small batch presents a unique experience for your palate. These are our taste impressions—make sure you send us yours! Some of the earliest batches are sold out in the pint size, but may be in our “sampler sets.” We will be presenting 25-sets of sample syrups which include 6-small batches of traditional maple syrups and 2-specialty syrups (“raw” maple and a maple-walnut), all in 2-ounce sample sizes. More information to come! Thank you to our Super Taster, Jeri, and her team of tasters: Susan, Walter, Brian, Shirley, John, Boo & Pat! A good time was had by all.
Traditional Small Batch Maple Presenting our small-batch line of traditionally boiled maple! Each batch represents a separate run of sap from the Zoar Forests, capturing the individual complexities presented by the trees in a distinctive terroir.
1: Batch 1 has a lovely taste of golden honey butterscotch with vanilla undertones. Sold out in pints.
2: Buttery and warm with a very round toasty flavor with a little spice. Some of our tasters said they detect a bit of candy apple fruitiness in this batch. Sold out in pints.
3: Smooth, round and full of buttery vanilla, our tasters described this batch as vanilla cotton candy! (Some also described it as “perfection” and “nectar of the gods” but let’s not gild the lily!) Sold out in pints.
4: Apricot-nutmeg undertones with a toasted-nutty base. Sold out in pints.
5: Velvet nectar! This toasty syrup has spicy-ginger-cinnamon notes.
6: Reminiscent of an Alaskan morning per one of our tasters! Vanilla sweetness with a bit of praline. Crème brulee…
7: Light, delicate with more layers, this syrup has the distinct praline taste with a “fruity explosion” in the after-taste…exciting!
8: This syrup has a recurrence of some of the butterscotch tones with a woodland nectar feel. Sweet and spicy.
9: Floral perfume with a hazelnut butter taste, classic dark brown sugar tones.
10: Cotton candy! The dulcet flavors of toasted golden sugar!
11: Rich buttery praline with floral complexities…
12: “Absolute heaven.” Nutty walnut flavor with minerals and the essence of freshly cut hay…buttery with a hint of cinnamon.
13: LUCKY 13! Very smooth batch described as “amber ambrosia” by our editor. Dark toffee with the taste smoothness of condensed milk with toasted vanilla and an earthy undertone.
14: Exotic spicy chestnut tones…this batch starts to truly express the complexities of the later spring runs.
15: A sweet, fresh grassy-buckwheat with overtones of coffee/toffee! Yummy.
16: This syrup has a malty goodness with subtle fruity undertones dressed in coffee bean.
17: A strong, thick and smoky syrup with a distinct essence of cardamon and light mineral notes.
18: Last batch of the spring season! This is a robust, thick syrup with tones of citrus, espresso, and mineral notes.
MORE SMALL BATCH MAPLE TO COME…
Specialty Syrup Lines: Only available by private treaty or in some sample sets! Produced in microscopic quantities, these are your “shave of truffle” for the year!
“RAW” Maple We are excited to offer our RAW Maple line in 2-ounce bottles, this year only available in the sample sets. This syrup is never boiled, just gently heated to evaporate the water from the sap. The result? A totally new experience in maple! Brighter in color and flavor, these sweet nectars retain the fresh fruitiness of the whole product. Let us know what you think!
R-1: Chamomile tones with tones of fresh shoots…spring in a bottle!
R-2: Orange blossom predominates in this honey-floral syrup…delicious.
R-3: Northwoods tang is detectible in this syrup that reminds some of the fresh flavor of yellow raisin with a top note of green tea and honey!
Northern Black Walnut Oh…my! Magic in a bottle. This syrup is made from the sap of Northern Black Walnuts and carefully evaporated into syrup that is likely preferred by woodland fairies and sprites. The rest of us just relish the outrageously delicious earthiness of this nectar. These were hard to provide flavor profiles for, although they were adored by our tasters. You’ll note that the descriptors are more of the experiential than the taste—let us know your thoughts—
W-1: “Middle Earth Hobbit” was how one reviewer tried to capture this elusive syrup. Sweetness of light brown sugar, with a woodland complexity.
W-2: Dark, obscure and whimsical! Essence of raw praline and green leaves.
W-3 Herbs and nuts predominate the many layers of this batch.