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Comment by michael_dorfman | Hacker News Reader

The grades are based purely on color, which aligns pretty directly with flavor. If you like the maple flavor, Grade B is definitely the best; Grade C is too dark, and is only for industrial use (it needs to be cut with sugar-water to be palatable.)

Grade A is not more subtle; it is merely more neutrally sweet (i.e., has less flavor.)

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Thank you for the clarification.

The article gave me the impression that Grade A was from early in the season, and it is boiled less. Later in the season the sap has less sugar naturally so it is boiled more to concentrate the sugar, which also concentrates the other flavors. That later season sap makes Grade B. Is that the case? In that way grading makes sense, Grade A being more naturally pure, but knowing that it is only based on color throws out the whole point to me. I definitely have had maple syrup I felt had too harsh a flavor, maybe it was Grade B as I'm used to Grade A.

Well, in Vermont, at least, the "season" lasts for a couple of weeks at most, so it is only the larger producers who would separate the early sap from the late sap; I had a small stand of trees, and just collected everything for the season, and then boiled at the end. While I wasn't able, therefore, to notice any differences between early sap and late sap, I did notice that the best quantity of sap came on days when it was freezing at night, and significantly above freezing during the day.

Generally speaking, you boil until you reach the right viscosity (specific gravity), which is tied to the sugar content. I used to count on boiling 40 gallons of sap to get one gallon of syrup, but this can vary a bit.

Question I've always had that you might be able to answer: how do you know how much sap you can take? Is there some point at which you're doing damage to the tree?

If you like a robust maple flavor, the best tradeoffs are usually around Grade A Dark Amber and Grade B. These will pair well with a typical breakfast. The lighter grades are useful for some deserts, but they're easily overwhelmed. Grade C is for cooking.

The new labeling system makes sense: Grade B should really be something like Grade A Dark. Sadly, this means I'll have to pay more for the good stuff.

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