Around this time of year, when daytime temps hover in the high 30s and the overnight lows still drop below freezing, maple trees start to wake from their dormancy and prepare for the growing season. To fuel new growth, the tree releases its stored sugar which makes the sap sweeter than any other time of year, averaging around 2 or 3 percent sugar content.

Ever since I have been interested in maple syrup and its production, I’ve wondered how maple sap might look and taste. Although I have visited several sugar shacks* and seen the syrup in production, I never had the opportunity to see and taste maple sap right from the tree. That is until last Sunday, when Nate surprised me by taking me to the Morton Arboretum for their maple tapping program.

My previous experience with sap was limited to the sticky, resinous stuff produced by conifers, so I was quite surprised when I finally got a look.

Untitled from karen kauffman on Vimeo.

It looks just like water and the sweetness is barely noticeable. This makes sense, considering it IS just water with a tiny bit of sucrose. What can I say, common sense occasionally eludes me. :-)

* In this context, a sugar shack is a small, well-ventilated shelter where maple sap is boiled into maple syrup.