Wisconsin/Michigan maple syrup?

Took a quick trip to Michigan's UP along Routes 141 and 41 to Isle Royal thru Houghton. Saw plenty of sings for pasties, fudge and maple syrup. As it was the 4th of July weekend these places were closed during our travel times. We love fresh maple syrup and have picked up bottles/cans in Canada and Vermont. But I have not had the midwest stuff. Anyone have any experience?

Wisconsin makes some great maple syrups ... Mars Cheese Castle would be one place not too far to pick up a few, or you can get more detail here:
http://www.wismaple.org/

Mar's Cheese Castle
www.marscheese.com
2800 120th Avenue
Kenosha, WI 53144-7599
(262) 859-2244

I've switched over to Michigan maple syrup exclusively (Grade B Amber). Since we travel there quite a bit, it's the easiest place for me to buy it close to the source. I've not been able to taste any appreciable diference between good Michigan syrup and good Vermont syrup. Of course, lower grades from either place are just that.

Back when the River Trails Nature Center in Glenview still included a pancake breakfast with its Maple Syrup Festival, they would occasionally bemoan the fact that a drought the previous fall had curtailed the amount of sap that was running in the spring. During those drought years they would import their syrup from Michigan. I tasted no discernible difference between the Michigan stuff and the syrup drawn from local trees in years past.

As for how it compares to Vermont or Canadian syrups, I've had both and I figure as long as it is real maple syrup and not the HFCS glop that is generally sold on grocery store shelves, it's worth eating, no matter its geographic origin. I have yet to meet a real maple syrup I didn't like.

Buddy

Elfin wrote:Took a quick trip to Michigan's UP along Routes 141 and 41 to Isle Royal thru Houghton. Saw plenty of sings for pasties, fudge and maple syrup. As it was the 4th of July weekend these places were closed during our travel times. We love fresh maple syrup and have picked up bottles/cans in Canada and Vermont. But I have not had the midwest stuff. Anyone have any experience?

We produce our own in NE Ohio. I have very limited supplies this year as the season was all of 18 days long due to the short winter.

From what I have heard, there are NO commercial producers in NE Illinois as there are few sugar maples. (Some of the park districts produce <10 gallons in a good year.)

Hi,

The only commercial producer of maple sirup in Illinois is along the old Route 66/US-55 at Funk's Grove. This is north of Springfield allowing a nice brief detour from the expressway. I usually buy their maple candy for my nieces.

http://www.funkspuremaplesirup.com/

Regards,

I've been to Funk's...I wish I would have bought a gallon of the stuff...and double the amount of maple sugar candy!

Though it's been in place for many years (well, since 2015), I was surprised by the new rating system for maple syrup (now used across US and Canada). Decades ago, we discovered that we preferred the more flavorful Grade B as opposed to Grade A maple syrup; now, it's pretty much all grade A, with distinctions based on the color and flavor of the sap, which varies throughout the season: https://www.maplesource.com/pure-maple- ... explained/

Vis a vis this discussion, it's likely that there's more difference between early and late harvest maple syrup than between Wisconsin and Michigan maple syrup, or New Hampshire and Quebec maple syrup.

Just ordered some maple syrup from Amazon; it's what used to be Grade B but is now Grade A, Dark Color, Robust Taste.

My local (MKE Bay View) Farmers' Market sells Drewry Farms' excellent syrup, which I've been happily drinking for years. Available online, at several other MKE area Farmers' markets, and kinda looks like every place a food tourist might stop in the Plymouth/Sheboygan area -- Miesfeld's, Cedar Valley Cheese Store, etc., and somewhat closer to Chicagoland a farm stand in Walworth.

Drewry Farms Maple Products
https://www.drewryfarmsmaple.com/
W5762 Winooski Road
Plymouth, WI 53073

Cedar Valley Cheese Store
W3115 Jay Road
(Hwy. 57 between Fredonia and Random Lake, fresh curds every Friday)
Belgium, WI 53004

Miesfeld's
4811 Venture Dr.
Sheboygan, WI

Pearce Farm Stand
5740 N. Walworth Rd.
Walworth, WI