When it comes to pancakes, my boys are kind of spoiled. Rarely, has artificially flavored syrup ever passed through their lips. Real maple syrup is a staple in our kitchen, largely because my husband's brother Bill and his wife make their own maple syrup just over the border in Wisconsin. We buy large canning jars full and keep it in the pantry for whenever the need strikes...which is pretty often!
We recently had a chance to do a taste-testing of maple syrup from Crown Maple Syrup and our boys were super excited! Crown Maple Syrup is created and certified organic in the Hudson River Valley in New York State. They make three varieties or grades: Light Amber, Medium Amber and Dark Amber. We sampled all three with Uncle Bill's syrup in the mix as well.
We tasted each type separately on spoons - except John (a former wine buyer) who tasted in a wine glass. They boys tried it on vanilla ice cream too. Here's what we thought:
Crown Light Amber: Had the greatest complexity. Carmelly. Notes of wood and sharpened pencil (wine guy). Everyone's favorite!
Crown Medium Amber: A more uniform flavor. Smokier, coffee overtones, gingerbread.
Crown Dark Amber: Thicker like corn syrup. Molasses, vanilla and coffee flavors. "Smells like pancakes" (6 year old)
Uncle Bill's syrup: Smokier than the others. Tastes like it was cooked in the woods (and it was!)
Bottom line, we wouldn't turn down a bottle of any of them - they were all delicious! Pure maple syrup may seem like a splurge but it is so much better and healthier than the fake stuff it's not even funny. If you need more convincing, check out this article on Mother Nature Network about the benefits of buying real maple syrup - it has essential minerals, calcium and may event help prevent type-2 diabetes.
Interested in doing your own maple syrup sampling? Try the Crown Maple Trio - one bottle of each of the three types.
Do you use pure maple syrup at home? What's your favorite type? Is it hard to justify the cost or completely worth it?
(Full Disclosure: I received sample sizes of Crown Maple Syrup in exchange for my honest opinion.)
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We hade maple syrup on our waffles this morning and it is so worth the cost.
Posted by: momandsons | October 17, 2011 at 09:11 AM
Yeah - happy to have found another maple syrup fan!
Posted by: Micaela | October 18, 2011 at 07:12 AM
What an awesome post! I love maple syrup and will incorporate it into most desserts. I just had the best cupcakes ever and they were maple of course. Thank you for your wonderful blog.
Posted by: BlondeBomber | November 08, 2011 at 07:51 AM