Safeway and Target have their own brands of Grade B and it is pretty good. I'm sure the Canadian stuff and the Vermont stuff is better but I don't notice a difference.

Thank you Vermont sugar people for the details.

Anonymous wrote:What is maple syrup made out of?

It's boiled down sap from sugar maple trees

Whole foods 365 brand. Excellent and organic. Go with medium amber.

What is maple syrup made out of?

I grew up sugaring in VT and fancy is my favorite, but it really is a personal preference. The grade of the syrup has to do with the timing of the sap from the trees. The same sugar bush will produce a variety of grades throughout the season. To get lighter syrup you want cold nights and warm days (the priest used to have us all pray for this on Sundays...). Fancy and Grade A sell for a premium which is what everyone hopes for. As the season winds down you get darker syrup. If you boil it too long and your pans aren't maintained it just tastes burnt. The grades of syrup are determined by their color. LL Bean's syrup is fine.

http://www.happyacresfarm.com/

We used to order it from these people, but now our doctors object to all things sweet.

Very nice people to do business with.

we purchase it right after christmas in the Holiday Shaped bottles for 50-75% off at stores.

Anonymous wrote:It has nothing to do with when they tap the tree. Someone's been pulling your leg.

Grade A is boiled longer, to produce a lighter, sweeter, clearer syrup. Grade B is just not boiled quite so long. From a distiller's point of view, it has more impurities. Those impurities, of course, are maple flavor. Which is why some people say they like Grade B better because it has more maple flavor.

It's just a personal preference--do you like lighter and sweeter, or darker and more mapley?

This is not true. I spent many cold Feb and March mornings making maple syrup with my grandpa when I was a kid and grew up thinking "real" maple syrup came in reused gallon milk jugs and never knew it was expensive or special. Sap is clear when it comes from the tree and tastes barely sweet, not like maple at all. It looks like water. The longer it boils, the darker it gets until it crystallizes and you mold it into maple candy. There is no impurities. What would those be leaves and bark? No - the sap is clear when it comes out and unless crap is falling off your gloves into the boiler it remains clear and slowly darkens. It is just like making caramel on your stove from sugar and water - on sap is water with the sugar already in it.

Anonymous wrote:We buy ours in cans at the grocery store in Canada in the summer--I always think we have enough to make it through the year but that's never the case. But here, the Costco stuff is pretty good. I also greatly prefer Grade B syrup, which I've seen at Harris Teeter and almost nowhere else.

Second this! We always buy grade B--grade A tastes too thin and sweet. Grade B has more maple flavory goodness. We´ve bought it at Whole Foods—you just have to look close at the little letters on the label sometimes to see if it´s grade A or B.

Trader Joe's!

In my youth, they also made Grade C. It seems no one does that anymore.

And if you see it, "Fancy" is a lighter grade above Grade A. Or at least it used to be. At some point they started calling Grade A- light amber and Fancy the same thing. It's all part of maple syrup grade inflation.

It has nothing to do with when they tap the tree. Someone's been pulling your leg.

Grade A is boiled longer, to produce a lighter, sweeter, clearer syrup. Grade B is just not boiled quite so long. From a distiller's point of view, it has more impurities. Those impurities, of course, are maple flavor. Which is why some people say they like Grade B better because it has more maple flavor.

It's just a personal preference--do you like lighter and sweeter, or darker and more mapley?

arrgh I can't find my source but I know that Grade B tastes better. It's not a grading system like school; it's the second time they tap the tree. The more yummy sap is "behind" the grade A sap.

The store brand is fine as long as it says 100%