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Tap into locally made maple syrup for sweet treat
April 8, 2008
| Syrup Supply |
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Name: Anderson's Maple Syrup.
Address: 2391 40th St., Cumberland.
Phone: 715-822-8512.
Web site: http://andersonsmaplesyrup.com.
Prices: Grade A dark amber — 16 ounces, $6.85 (purchased at Gordy's County Market, Eau Claire). Grade B — 32 ounces, $14.95 plus shipping (purchased through Anderson's Web site).
Name: Eric's Maple Syrup.
Address: Watkins-Oberli Family Farms, 1122 10th Ave., Barron.
Phone: 715-357-6220.
Price: Grade A dark amber — 8 ounces, $5.29; 16 ounces, $7.99 (purchased at Just Local Food Co-op, Eau Claire). Eric's Grade B will be available later this season.
Name: Fitzl's Sweet Success.
Address: 15930 366th St., Stanley.
Phone: 715-644-5313.
Price: Grade A dark amber — 12 ounces, $5.79 (purchased at Mega Pick'n Save West, Eau Claire).
Name: Hustad's Sugar Bush.
Address: 2165 11½ St., Cumberland.
Phone: 715-822-4608.
Price: Grade A dark amber — 16 ounces, $6.49 (purchased at Mega Pick'n Save West).
Name: Roth's Sugar Bush.
Address: 10976 Highway EE, Cadott.
Phone: 715-289-3820.
Web site: www.rothsugarbush.com.
Price: Grade B — 1 gallon, $34 (purchased via mail order).
Name: Smoczyk's High Ridge Reward.
Address: Distributed by Maple Rewards, 2388 40th St., Cumberland.
Phone: 715-822-8512.
Price: Grade A dark amber — 12 ounces, $5.99 (purchased at Mega Pick'n Save West).
Name: Sugar John's Pure Maple Syrup.
Address: Made by Roth's Sugar Bush, Cadott.
Phone: 715-289-3820.
Price: Grade A medium amber — 12 ounces, $6 (purchased by phone from Roth's Sugar Bush).
Name: Trainor's Sugar Bush.
Address: N5650 230th St., Menomonie.
Phone: 715-235-0786.
Price: Grade A dark amber — 8 ounces, $5.39 (purchased at MarketPlace Foods, Menomonie).
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I t's maple syrup season in Wisconsin.
So here's a sweet idea.
First: Buy pure maple syrups, all locally made.
Second: Taste them systematically. Third: Compare and contrast them in wise and wonderful words. The first two steps were easy. Trips to stores in Eau Claire and Menomonie yielded eight syrups — all of them Grade A dark amber — by six local makers. Unfortunately, no store had any Grade B, so we ordered some online from Anderson's Maple Syrup in Cumberland and by phone from Roth's Sugar Bush in Cadott. We also bought some grade A from Roth's. Once a day on three different days, we poured about an ounce of each syrup, at room temperature, into little white plastic cups, then sniffed and sipped and slurped at each while recording our reactions to color and clarity, aroma and viscosity, taste and finish. We also tried each syrup after heating it gently, to mimic the warmth of hot waffles or steaming stacks of pancakes.
Between sips and between syrups, we cleansed our palates with Chippewa Valley Natural Spring Water.
We learned that local maple syrups are superb. That differences between Grade A amber syrups are fun to taste for and hard to describe. That heating, which boosts both sweetness and aroma, can mask nuances. And that we love, love, Grade B syrups.
Grade A tasting notes
Anderson's Maple Syrup: toasty aroma with notes of soft maple. Medium-thick. Persuasive maple-candy flavor with a crisp, lightly piney finish.
Eric's Maple Syrup: faint maple scent; excellent texture. Elegant maple-sugary flavors developing some vanilla notes and sweet fruit. Wonderful long finish.
Fitzl's Sweet Success: fresh bread scent with a hint, maybe, of smoke. Luscious mouthfeel with pronounced brown sugar sweetness. Bright finish.
Hustad's Sugar Bush: lightly fragrant with maple and vanilla; pleasingly round texture. Strong maple flavor with quick finish.
Roth's Maple Syrup: aroma notes of butter and fruit. Medium-thick. Taste is strongly sweet, interrupted by maple burst. Clingy finish.
Sugar John's Pure Maple Syrup: delicate maple aroma. Somewhat lighter bodied with a classic clean maple flavor and a bright finish.
Smoczyk's High Ridge Reward: faint fresh aroma. Medium-thick. More white sugar at midpalate than maple. Perhaps a lick of vanilla at the end.
Trainor's Sugar Bush: rich texture. Powerfully sweet, with butterscotch and strong maple. Short finish.
Grade B tasting notes
Anderson's Maple Syrup: dark brownish-black with aromas of burnt sugar, sulphur, dark fruit. Complex flavors: soft smoke and black licorice, dark caramel, molasses. Lovely interplay between sweet and bitter. Leaves the tongue tingling.
Roth's Sugar Bush: dark brownish-black with deep maple aroma. A more elegant and focused Grade B with molasses, mild black licorice and sweet vanilla. Nicely balanced.
Main Course, the Leader-Telegram's restaurant review column, runs the fourth Sunday of the month. Diners' Notebook, a sampling of favorite restaurant offerings, runs the second Tuesday of the month.
To recommend a restaurant to be considered for Diners' Notebook or Main Course, call Blythe Wachter at 830-5828 or e-mail her at blythe.wachter@ecpc.com.
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