The tree
The harvest
The different types of maple
Sugaring season
It’s impossible to talk about maple syrup without mentioning the source: the tree!
Did you know that there are around 150 species of maple trees in the world, only 4 of which can produce maple water?
Sugar maples (70%), red maples (29%), as well as silver and black maples (1%). The best-known species is, of course, our sugar maple, found mainly in eastern Canada.
Good news for food lovers: the sugar maple can live for over 200 years.
Sit back and let me tell you all about harvesting maple water!
The maple syrup producers’ work begins in January with the preparation of the maple trees. The trees are notched to match the diameter of the trunk and pipes are installed between the trees and the sugar shack.
Imagine a giant irrigation system running through the forest! This hand-crafted installation is meticulous work that requires a great deal of patience.
Once everything is ready, all that’s left to do is let nature take its course… To perform at their best, maples need a temperature shock: frost at night and thaw during the day. The best time to harvest maple water is usually between late February and early April, at the end of winter.
But the start of the sugaring season depends above all on Mother Nature. You need to know how to be flexible and get back on the 10 cent bandwagon*.
During the harvest, the maple water is piped to the sugar shack. When quantities are large enough, maple syrup producers work from sunrise until late at night to transform the water into maple syrup.
It takes around 40 litres of maple water to make 1 litre of my delicious syrup!
In 2022, 28% of the world’s maple syrup was produced in the Chaudière-Appalaches region of Quebec.
On paper, the process is simple: concentrate the maple water and heat it. The result? A delicious Maple Joe® maple syrup with notes of caramel and vanilla.
In practice, this requires a great deal of patience and a precise technique for successful cooking in order to obtain a quality product.
The secret? Slowly heat the maple water to transform it into a syrup containing 66% to 67% sugar.
Controlling temperatures and cooking times is one of the secrets to the texture, colour and taste of my Maple Joe® maple syrup.
Personally, I love this time of year, the smell of toffee and wood fires in the huts…
But let’s get back to our syrup! Once harvesting and processing are complete, the syrup is stored in barrels. We go through the entire harvest with a fine-toothed comb to guarantee its quality: taste, colour, texture…
Our goal? To offer you a maple syrup that’s as delicious as ever, whatever the harvest!
Maple syrup is no laughing matter in Quebec!
In Quebec, nature is more than generous with maple syrup producers! I don’t know if you knew, but there are 4 categories of maple syrup: golden, amber, dark and very dark.
The colour of maple syrup is affected by the time of harvest. It will be lighter at the beginning and darker at the end of the season.
Each syrup offers a different taste to suit all palates:
In Quebec, the harvest period is known as sugaring season.
Why sugaring season? At a time when the region’s inhabitants were not yet producing maple syrup, harvesting maple water was already a real celebration and a moment of great conviviality. In Quebec, we have done everything we can to ensure that the tradition lives on!
I’m going to tell you the story of a day in a sugar shack… during sugaring season!
* Quebec expression meaning: take a seat, come and sit down.
Close your eyes and imagine the sweet caramelised smell of maple syrup wafting through the air, with traditional Ziguezon zinzon music playing in the background by a local band.
Now that your senses are awake, open your eyes! You won’t be surprised to see these big tables where friends, family and strangers gather for a meal to share, laugh and, of course, eat! Because coming to a sugar shack is first and foremost about enjoying traditional Quebec dishes: pea soup, cretons, baked beans, eggs in syrup, bacon, meat pie, “oreilles de crisse,” maple syrup pie and “pets de soeur.” The list goes on.
To round off the meal, everyone joins us outside for maple taffy! The idea is to pour hot maple syrup directly onto the snow and roll it around a stick. You end up with a maple syrup lollipop. A real treat! Of course, you need a sweet tooth! Not only children enjoy them, either.
For those who want to take the tradition even further, you can also take a horse-drawn carriage ride or take the children to see the animals in the little cottages next to the hut. Sugaring season is a time to share with the whole family!
