March is the month for Maple syrup!
Waterloo Region is well known for its sweet maple syrup. If you take a country drive around our Region on a sunny, just-above-freezing day, you will see clouds of steam and wood smoke rising through the trees in the numerous woodlots. This is a good indication that someone is boiling fresh-tapped maple sap in their sugar shack.
We happen to love « the liquid gold » at Martin’s and are rather closely connected to a certain young maple syrup producer. Ian Roth, who married into the Martin family, taps the trees in his sugar bush just outside New Hamburg. He bottles some of the area’s finest syrup and it’s available year-round in our very own Orchard Market!
Check them out here: Roth’s Maple Syrup
Golden – Delicate taste
Best for: whipped cream, maple candies and over fresh fruit
Amber – Rich Taste
Best for: pancakes, poaching fruits and homemade granola
Dark – Robust taste
Best for: sauces and glaze, baking, candied nuts and custards
Some fun facts about Ontario Maple Syrup:
– A maple tree lasts at least 30 years and is 12 inches in diameter before it is tapped.
– As a tree increases in diameter more taps can be added, up to a maximum of four.
– Tapping does no permanent damage to the tree.
– Maple Syrup is boiled even further to produce Maple Cream, Sugar and Candy.
Find local Ontario maple syrup and products at our Orchard Market now!
