I grew up on the good stuff. But in my childhood it was always grade a maple syrup. When I'd taste fake pancake syrup it would always taste gross. About 6 months ago I learned that grade b was richer and more flavorful. It's phenomenal. cheaper than grade a too.<p>I'm glad they are making the change to better labeling. As I've gotten older I've gotten more particular about quality of food. Which partly means finding food hacks. Like buying goji berries in Chinatown rather than whole foods or grade b maple syrup. There are a ton of these hacks out there and if you care enough to find them, you'll enjoy food more. I'd recommend "cooking for geeks" by Jeff potter. I think that's where I learned about grade b syrup.
If only all articles would go such great lengths in finding sources and then linking directly to them. This is how articles should be written, no matter the subject.<p>No artificial splitting over pages, links to offsite sources instead of only linking in-site, real links, no "click here" in the link text.<p>Amazing work.
The maple syrup I have from Trader Joe's says "100% Pure Vermont Maple Syrup Grade A Dark Amber"<p>I'm not sure the article is correct. It's common for people to say Grade B has more flavor. But is more flavor better flavor? I usually like very strong flavors, like Double IPAs, but does that mean IPAs are better than more subtly flavored Belgian Ales? I've been under the impression that Grade B has <i>more</i> flavor, but not <i>better</i> flavor. That Grade A has a less over-powering, cleaner flavor.<p>I haven't done a taste test, but it would be fun to line up shot glasses of different Grade A and B to test. Mmm, like beer tasting but with maple syrup. Other than the flavor thing, the article was very interesting.
My great-great step-grandfather invented Log Cabin syrup. I grew up surrounded by a ton of old Log Cabin memorabilia. It was actually the first mass produced "maple" syrup.<p>I can't ever remember us eating it though (it was sold to GF a long time ago and no longer bears the family name).
Someone in the comments of the parent article mentions <i>sortilège</i>, it's a liqueur made from very light maple syrup and Canadian whisky. It's readily available in places like Quebec and worthwhile as an apertif.
Grade B is definitely superior. You can get some pretty good stuff at your local Trader Joe's. About the only place I consistently find Grade B maple syrup, w/o going specialty.
The syrup comes from the motion of the fluid in the tree - when it gets cold at night the sap goes into the roots, when its warm during the day the sap rises. so to get a good flow you need cold nights and warm days.<p>during the flow the sap picks up the maple taste from other bits of stuff in the tree - grade b is actually the first sap produced in the season and has the most of this 'stuff'. As the season goes on theres less and less of this stuff so then you start making grade a and fancy.
If anyone is interested, from someone that uses maple syrup instead of sugar, Shady Maple Farms organic maple syrup grade B is the best. The other brands, even when organic and pure, just don't have the same type of clear taste for grade B.<p>You can find it at any organic/health shop.<p>If you can't wait, here is a non-affiliated Amazon link:
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shady-Maple-Farms-Organic-32-Ounce/dp/B000LKXNG2" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Shady-Maple-Farms-Organic-32-Ounce/dp/...</a>
That was all interesting... but did I miss the part where the author explains how it came to be that "the nominally inferior grade offer[s] decidedly superior flavor" and yet "sells at a significant discount"?<p>The story seems to suggest that the milder (diluted or perhaps similar to diluted alternatives?) product would have been disfavored by the regime set up by the Pure Food and Drug Act, and thus assigned a lower 'grade'. But somehow the clearer/milder syrup got the higher 'grade'. Why? And what 'evolution' of "our sense of American identity" has outraced the labeling? (Was the Grade-A/Grade-B labeling <i>ever</i> aligned with preferences? Do people only now like the darker syrup more, and if so, when did that preference change?)<p>I don't mind the story, but the opening paragraph poses questions and promises answers that aren't delivered.
Maple syrup seems to be endemic for North America. Not sure about the rest of the Europe, but I don't think it can be found in shops over here in Balkans (and maple tree itself is not uncommon).
I was almost taken aback by the comments about maple syrup being a "symbol of American authenticity", being Canadian. But considering the value of this article, it's a feeling that quickly dissipated. It's a shame that I have only seen Grade A around here. I don`t recall ever seeing Grade B syrup anywhere. Plus we only have light and medium, I've never see Dark Amber either!<p>Jealous of American Maple Syrup? Blasphemy! :|
Eating Maple syrup at a Main Maple syrup cookery is one of my most happy memories from when I was living in the states. Homemade vanilla ice cream with hot newly made syrup (yum). The B grade stuff is the best. Super powerful :) To bad you can only find it once in a while here in Spain and then usually the mass produced mixed stuff.
This is a weird article. For starters, it's hard to read overall. The payoff seems pretty minimal. It barely supports the headline. Non grade B syrup actually appears to be quite a bit cheaper. And no mention of Canada, whose production far exceeds the US?
In contrast, the cheapest honey is mutagenic toxic corn syrup:<p><a href="http://www.grist.org/food-safety/2011-08-18-honey-laundering-tainted-counterfeit-from-china-in-US" rel="nofollow">http://www.grist.org/food-safety/2011-08-18-honey-laundering...</a>
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Is there a tl;dr on this? Can't they just cut to the chase?We eat whatever tastes the best. That'w what we buy.<p>Oh, got it here: buy grade B syrup - forget grade A:<p>"So if you happen to relish the taste of maple syrup, you may want to find a bottle of Grade B while you still can. Once the inferior grade is removed from the label, the rarest, most flavorful syrup will likely command at least as dear a price as its blander and more abundant cousins."