Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why the cheapest maple syrup is the best

theatlantic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–59 of 59 posts

Re: Why the cheapest maple syrup is the best

#51

Post by kemiller »

michael_dorfman wrote: post #35
antoncohen wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

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…

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?

Re: Why the cheapest maple syrup is the best

#52

Post by eslachance »

I was almost taken aback by the comments about maple syrup being a "symbol of American authenticity", being Canadian. But considering the value of this article, it's a feeling that quickly dissipated. It's a shame that I have only seen Grade A around here. I don`t recall ever seeing Grade B syrup anywhere. Plus we only have light and medium, I've never see Dark Amber either!

Jealous of American Maple Syrup? Blasphemy! :|

Re: Why the cheapest maple syrup is the best

#53

Post by geden »

jablan wrote: post #23

Maple syrup seems to be endemic for North America. Not sure about the rest of the Europe, but I don't think it can be found in shops over here in Balkans (and maple tree itself is not uncommon).

Decent Maple syrup is pretty easy to come by in the UK from decent supermarkets and health food shops. It's recently gotten super expensive though - about USD $2 for 100ml. All the syrup here is graded by colour and is almost always Canadian, I didn't even think it was produced in the US.

Fascinating article.

Re: Why the cheapest maple syrup is the best

#54

Post by pbreit »

This is a weird article. For starters, it's hard to read overall. The payoff seems pretty minimal. It barely supports the headline. Non grade B syrup actually appears to be quite a bit cheaper. And no mention of Canada, whose production far exceeds the US?

Re: Why the cheapest maple syrup is the best

#55

Post by giardini »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #14
giardini wrote: post #5

Is there a tl;dr on this? Can't they just cut to the chase?We eat whatever tastes the best. That'w what we buy. Oh, got it here: buy grade B syrup - forget grade A: "So if you happen to relish the taste of maple syrup, you may want to find a bottle of Grade B while you still can. Once the inferior grade is removed from the label, the rarest, most flavorful syrup will likely command at least as dear a price as its bla…

That's a great alternative to the headline you fixated on. But the article is actually about the history of maple syrup, so I think you missed the point.

I can't eat history: it is of no use to me, especially in an article about maple syrup.

The title "Why the cheapest maple syrup is the best" asks a question and the article refuses to answer it quickly. I ddn't miss the point - I merely took the title at face value.

I still don't know any more than I did before about the history of maple syrup and that's good - less of my mind wasted on irrelevant information. But I _do_ know that grade B tastes better - something infinitely more useful. And I don't need the history as a referent, since the syrups themselves are the referents (though I shall be loathe to buy any grade A as a referent - perhaps you can do that and we shall taste).

The article was a poor example of bait-and-switch journalism.

I don't know why fools bother to downvote someone because he finds a meandering plotless plodding article to be uninteresting!

Re: Why the cheapest maple syrup is the best

#56

Post by Dylan16807 »

giardini wrote: post #55
Dylan16807 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a great alternative to the headline you fixated on. But the article is actually about the history of maple syrup, so I think you missed the point.

I can't eat history: it is of no use to me, especially in an article about maple syrup. The title "Why the cheapest maple syrup is the best" asks a question and the article refuses to answer it quickly. I ddn't miss the point - I merely took the title at face value. I still don't know any more than I did before about the history of maple syrup and that's good - less of my mind wasted on irrelevant information. But I…

For one, you're being needlessly insulting.

And come on, get used to headlines. If it asks a question that can be answered in a sentence or two and yet there is a full article attached you shouldn't get confused. It's not bait-and-switch; the entire article is about the syrup.

Re: Why the cheapest maple syrup is the best

#57

Post by gensym »

jablan wrote: post #23

Maple syrup seems to be endemic for North America. Not sure about the rest of the Europe, but I don't think it can be found in shops over here in Balkans (and maple tree itself is not uncommon).

Maple syrup is great, but in the midwest, at least, most people don't eat it; instead, they put corn syrup with maple flavoring on their pancakes. Ugh.

Re: Why the cheapest maple syrup is the best

#58

Post by epo »

giardini wrote: post #55
Dylan16807 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a great alternative to the headline you fixated on. But the article is actually about the history of maple syrup, so I think you missed the point.

I can't eat history: it is of no use to me, especially in an article about maple syrup. The title "Why the cheapest maple syrup is the best" asks a question and the article refuses to answer it quickly. I ddn't miss the point - I merely took the title at face value. I still don't know any more than I did before about the history of maple syrup and that's good - less of my mind wasted on irrelevant information. But I…

Maybe they downvoted you because you are parading your lack of attention span (or perhaps your lack of comprehension). To use terms like "fools" or "bait and switch" when you really meant "tl;dr" or "why aren't there more pictures" is more a comment on you than on the article.

Re: Why the cheapest maple syrup is the best

#59

Post by wyclif »

colomon wrote: post #26
wyclif wrote: post #25

Someone in the comments of the parent article mentions sortilège , it's a liqueur made from very light maple syrup and Canadian whisky. It's readily available in places like Quebec and worthwhile as an apertif.

Thank you for reminding me to continue my quest to find a source for this. My uncle brought a bottle home from a fishing trip to Labrador once, and it was fantastic.

If you're not in the Provinces, you should be able to order it readily, for example: http://www.iselectwines.com/?iVar=86371
Post reply on HN