GALWAY–The process of producing maple syrup can be very interesting to experience, and a few lucky high school students were able to witness it at the Cock and Bull Restaurant. Mrs. Gerber took her Special Topics in Health class consisting of Schuyler Arnold, Tori Acquaviva, Justine Quay, Kelly Baczkowski, and Adam Mancini on a special trip. The class was able to experience the process of making maple syrup on March 10th at the restaurant. Rick Sleeper, the owner of the Cock and Bull, gave the students a brief demonstration of how to make maple syrup. The students learned several new things they never knew about the process and got to be involved.

On this trip, the students learned a few of the steps and some of the cool and interesting facts about what it takes to make maple syrup. Mr. Sleeper was kind enough to explain so much about how everything worked. He said to start, you can tap one tree that is about twelve inches in diameter. He also informed the students that the bigger the tree, the more taps you can put in as long as they are about six inches away from the others.

In the yearly process of maple syrup making, you cannot insert the taps into the same location as the previous year. Although you can tap one big tree several times, the students asked him what is the maximum amount of taps you can have in a tree. Mr. Sleeper told the class that no more than three taps should be put in the tree because although the tree is bigger, and more taps means more sap, but one tree only has so much of the sugary hint of maple substance. He also explained that when the tap gets inserted too deeply into the tree, you will notice that there will be a leak around the tap. All it will look like is wet bark around the main tap, but that’s how you know if it went in too far. If the tap goes in too far, it will not affect the process in a drastic way, there will simply be less sap (not enough to make a huge difference).

Mr. Sleeper was nice enough to let the students get involved in the process. All five students had to grab sap-filled buckets off the tapped trees and dump the sap into another larger bucket to bring to the evaporating room. This room looked like a shack with a metal roof, and was extremely hot. This process of boiling the sap takes the water out. The water takes up to a couple of days before it’s all out, and its syrup. Mr. Sleeper told us that he had stayed the previous night until 3 a.m. loading the evaporator. The evaporator was run by a hot burning fire underneath the giant pot with the sappy syrup.

While the students were all checking the pushed taps, and basking in amazement that the sap looks like water, Mr. Sleeper explained that the maple syrup process is quite involved. He also told them that it takes forty gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup!

While on their way to the evaporating room, someone asked if the sap is edible/drinkable straight from the tree. He proceeded to say that yes, the sap that looks like water tastes like a natural sugar water with the slightest hint of maple. Mr. Sleeper allowed the students try the “sugar water” straight out of the tree. He also told the students how the sap flows out. The temperature at night needs to be below freezing for the sap to flow, then heat up to a temperature above freezing during the day so the sap will flow from the tap. Along with the temperature having a great affect on this process, gravity plays a huge part as well. It has been estimated that tapping removes only 10% or less of the tree’s sugar, but that’s an amount too small to hurt a healthy tree under normal environmental conditions.

The class asked more questions about where the profits for the maple syrup go and how it is used in the restaurant. Mr. Sleeper informed the class that the profits from selling maple syrup goes directly to the Galway Friends of Music program. The class was very excited to learn that the Cock and Bull donates its maple syrup profits to a community cause. Two of the members in the Special Topics class are part of the music program and are very thankful for his contribution.

Afterward, Mr. Sleeper took the five students,  Mrs. Gerber, and Mrs. Keller inside the kitchen of the Cock and Bull Restaurant. The group of seven enjoyed vanilla bean ice cream drizzled with the fresh, sugary, almost maple syrup, sticky goodness. It was a sweet and delicious treat! Mr. Sleeper even allowed the students and Mrs. Gerber to make coffee with maple syrup, which was a very appreciated gesture.

During the trip, the students learned why eating natural, real maple syrup is healthier: because there are no added sugars that are unnecessary and unhealthy. The students also came to the conclusion that the real-deal maple syrup is so much better tasting, and the fact that it’s a real natural sugar makes it all the more enjoyable while eating it. Making maple syrup is a long and extensive process and that is part of the reason why natural syrup is more expensive than artificial syrup. Natural syrup has none of the added sugar that the artificial syrup does. If you start to look closely at your grocery aisle, you will see, many of the brands are called ‘syrup’ or ‘table syrup’ or ‘maple-flavored syrup.’  This is because only 100% pure maple syrup can be called ‘maple syrup.’ There are different grades of maple syrup Grade A and Grade B.  Many people say that Grade B is more nutrient rich, and this seems to be the case.  It also, however, has a more pronounced flavor.   In fact, this year the labeling is changing and there will just be Grade A, with 4 varying colors.

Many products advertise that they are maple syrup, but they are not all-natural. If you look closely at the labels, you can see that they are processed. The best way to know if your maple syrup is healthy is to know the ingredients and read the labels before you buy it.

In conclusion, the Special Topics in Health trip to the Cock and Bull was a very interesting and cool way to learn about the making of maple syrup. The class and Mrs. Gerber are very thankful that they were able to witness the amazing process and it was a great experience!