Trees for Sap & Syrup

Torey
Torey Posts: 5,679 admin
edited March 2021 in Wild Edibles & Medicinals

A subject came up in another thread about the use of trees other than maple for sap/syrup production. I made my own birch syrup a few years ago. We have producers of birch sap in my area and they make other things with it as well. Candies, BBQ sauce, etc. Another local company, 52 North, is doing quite well selling a beverage, "Birch Water", made from the sap. Maples are not native in this area. At least not sugar maples. I have also heard of using Broad Leaf maple for syrup although I think the ratio to boil down is much higher than sugar maple. Cottonwood was suggested. Anyone have any thoughts on that? Or any good syrup making instructions or good syrup recipes?

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Comments

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin
    edited March 2020

    I have read about tamarack being used as well. Our two trees are still too young to try it out.

    In Manitoba, we have tapped Manitoba maples, which also go by another name...ah, box elder. The resulting syrup is different, but very good.

    I think that any tree other than sugar maple has a higher water content.

    We like to drink maple tea. We boil it down until it is quite sweet, dip some out and add some tea to it. Lemongrass was not a good addition. Rooibos was excellent.

    Along with this, we have cooked bannock & put a few other goodies in foil and straight into the fire underneath. It makes for a great picnic since you are sitting around the fire anyway! 😋

  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    We also do the Birch syrup here in Alaska. It is extremely popular. One local company makes several kinds of syrup with it as well as cookies, candies....OH the birch caramels are absolutely divine. I have been wanting to try making it myself, but have not had the time yet during the right time to do so. Just a bit of information on Birch vs Maple syrup...

    • Production: Birch syrup is much more difficult to produce. It takes about 40 liters of maple sap to make a single liter of maple syrup. However, it takes double the amount of birch sap to make the same amount of birch syrup. Clearly, it’s a labor intensive process.

    This site lists 27 trees that can be tapped those there are many varieties of the same species thought there are several others I would never have thought of...


  • Melinda
    Melinda Posts: 123 ✭✭✭

    @vickeym Thank you so much for the link!

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @vickeym Thanks for posting the link! Would never have thought of syrup from some of them!

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin
    edited March 2020

    @vickeym Fantastic! I think that we need to experiment on what we can find here and then do taste testing. 😋 I love taste testing.

    I am going to jump onto a soapbox...

    I do take issue with the author's description of box elder being small & scrubby and being "in the north" where land is marginal & prime trees are less available. My guess is that he/she may come from the warm and humid Niagara region and perhaps has never travelled up here to "northern Canada." 🙄 Don't believe everything you read, in other words. Haha, and if you say "northern Canada" here, everyone will think boreal forest into tundra & beyond...think great fishing, polar bears, caribou, beluga whales & ice flows.

    The box elder does extremely well where we are, and is far from small and is not scrubby. It does readily grow here (thus, "Manitoba Maple") and from my understanding, grows stronger here than in humid areas, where it becomes a very brittle wood and branches break easily...and may in fact be scrubby in an imperfect environment for the type (so, not Manitoba). These great trees are usually found around old homesteads as windbreaks. These farms were (and are) often highly productive as cropland, contrary to the author's opinion. Sapping would be done by those who wanted syrup, not because the land was no good for anything else. 🙄 This guy is bold and obviously not careful in his research.

    The flavor is really not much different from sugar maple syrup. It varies only a little. I have no idea what sorghum tastes like, but considering his other opinions about this tree, I would tend to not assume that they are similar. I think he has a little hate talk going on.

    Anyway, I am jumping off of my little irritated soapbox now! 😜

  • Kelley
    Kelley Posts: 140 ✭✭✭

    Thank you for the link. I have a relative up north that does maple syrup every year and gives us a small bottle for Christmas.

  • Obiora E
    Obiora E Posts: 517 ✭✭✭✭

    @torey You can also use the bark from Shagbark HIckory to make syrup.

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    @torey and @vickeym does the birch syrup have that wintergreen taste like birch tea does? I've made twig tea and loved it.

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @blevinandwomba No wintergreen taste in my syrup. It is darker and stronger in flavour than maple syrup. I think you can taste the tree more in birch syrup than maple.

  • nksunshine27
    nksunshine27 Posts: 343 ✭✭✭

    ive seen in one of the magazines i get i think either Grit or mother earth news that you can make syrup out of walnut trees i believe they used black walnut, its said to have a nuty flavor

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @blevinandwomba Twig tea? How is that made? Is there a proper season to harvest the twigs?

    Fascinating! I love wintergreen flavor.

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2020

    I just snapped off the little end twigs and stuffed them in a jar, them covered them with water and let sit overnight. I believe I used cold water, but the article below says hot.

    edit: I have done it in fall and winter- I'm not sure how well it works if the trees are not dormant.

  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2021

    @blevinandwomba Have never noticed a wintergreen or any minty type flavor at all. A local company here makes a variety of birch syrups, candies and such. Some syrups are a milder flavor and others are a darker, stronger flavor. Their birch caramels are heavenly. Not sure if I can share their site here, but if you are interested let me know and I can give you the address to see what they have. They carry other Alaskan items besides the birch products, but those are the ones I know best. 💖

  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2021

    @blevinandwomba Also, on the bottom of the birch product page there is a link to information about birch syrup that is quite interesting.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    Bumping up. It's that time of year!

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I saw ther first sap buckets out today. Its a sure sign of spring and it brings back so many memories.

  • marjstratton
    marjstratton Posts: 1,132 ✭✭✭✭

    Interesting article. I've never tapped sap. I have however, I have collected poplar buds and extracted the Balm of Gilead in oil. It is very pitchy, so I also would wonder about trying to tap the trees for sap. Think it would clog up real fast.

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @marjstratton I don't know anyone who has tapped poplar trees for the sap. I would think it would be very watery; similar to birch. The pitch in the buds is different from what runs in the sap.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @marjstratton @torey Sap is just like water. When we have done it, it has not had any issues with clogging. Cottonwood is one such that you can tap. I really don't know if you would want to tap other types of poplar. I suspect that the flavor would not be appealing, but a person could always try it.

    You do need to remember to tap trees that are larger in diameter or you may just kill the tree.

  • SuperC
    SuperC Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭

    @blevinandwomba the twig tea, sounds thrilling that will add happiness to our bodies. Question, can it be made with Birch tree twigs or pine twigs?

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @SuperC There are a few other discussions about pine that will give you more info.

    Pine Needle Tea – https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/846188/pine-needle-tea

    Incredible Edible Pine – https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/846031/the-incredible-edible-pine-tree

    Pine Tree Needle Uses – https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/841865/pine-tree-needle-uses

    Lesson 8: Pine – https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/846419/lesson-8-pine#latest

    There are a few other discussions about other types of conifers as well including this one on spruce & poplar buds. https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/843037/medicinal-properties-of-spruce-poplar-buds

    And this link for a conifer discussion with other links. https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/845044/conifers-medicine-food

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    @SuperC I don't have much experience with pine, so thankfully Torey has come up with a lot of info. I can tell you that birch tea taste very different from pine- it really is quite close to wintergreen. About the only tricky part is using enough twigs. You really have to pack the jar full, then cover with water and let soak. I used cold water and soaked overnight. It's not a super strong flavor, but it is unique and delicious.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Trees other than maple for tapping and making syrup! Here in Vermont, that would be just wrong. :-)

  • frogvalley
    frogvalley Posts: 675 ✭✭✭✭

    We already have bud break so tapping done for me. Once this happens, the water may become cloudy (bacteria?), smelly and doesn't take very good.

    When I do collect the sap, I put in on my wood stove and keep adding to the pot as it evaporates. There is absolutely nothing scientific about the way I make syrup, but I'm lazy and it works for me.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @frogvalley You're process sound like mine and it works. ;)

  • frogvalley
    frogvalley Posts: 675 ✭✭✭✭

    @Denise Grant I just ordered 3 gallons from Goodrich in Vermont. We have been ordering from them for about five years. The shipping is free now if you buy a certain amount. I have to get used to the new grading system out there. It was easy to get B or C, but I don't even know what the new system is. I have to say that New England/Canada has a wonderful taste.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2021

    @frogvalley Maple syrup is best from New England states. I think its the amount of cold days they have that keep the syrup sweeter and richer.

    We used to have a better and lonmg syrup time in NW PA. We made it every year when I was in school and that was hard as both my brother and I did after school activities so we would come home and go out and empty buckets by flashlight. But I loved it and the smell when we were boiling it down, amazing.

    Send me goodriches information. Maybe I will order from them

  • frogvalley
    frogvalley Posts: 675 ✭✭✭✭

    @Denise Grant Here is the link for the syrup https://goodrichmaplefarm.com I ordered it Tuesday or Wednesday and it was here by Thursday. We bought three and are splitting it with two of our kids as we only use about a gallon a year, but it's cheaper in the 3 pack. Great gift!

  • SuperC
    SuperC Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭

    @frogvalley I clicked on the link https://goodrichmaplefarm.com/ and yum, there are certainly good options. Smiles

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It warms my heart to see sap buckets out. Memories of the past and the promise of warm weather.

    We don;t see as many sap buckets as we used to but I saw several streches of busckets while out doing errands today.