Start of the maple water harvest in Quebec

Hi there,

Maybe you already use it in your recipes? Just to let you know that here in Quebec, the maple water harvest has started in several regions. The next step will be to boil this water to turn it into syrup. A sweet nectar, it works well in salad dressings, desserts, with salmon, and more. 😋

If you ever pass through here, don’t miss the chance to visit one of our wonderful sugar shacks. You can taste maple taffy on snow, among other things. 😄

Cheers! 👋

It's so lovely to make us dream like this this morning 😇...

It's really nice of you to make us dream like this this morning ...

It makes me so happy ☺️ The magic of maple water makes Quebecers of all ages dream 😊 A treat that visitors here definitely shouldn’t miss 👍 Cheers 👋

Hello and thanks for this morning escape! 🍁

Hey, Oh, the joy of sugar season starting! 😛 Because when the sap starts flowing, it means spring (the real one) is here 😉 Do you have taps on your land? Is the photo of one of your maple trees? Cheers!

I was so happy about that! ☺️💙💙

Hello my dear friend! ☺️

Yes, I took this photo after tapping one of the sugar maples I planted a long time ago. An experience I’d promised myself I’d do one day 😁❤️

Greetings, and I look forward to reading your comments and suggestions. Thanks for your generosity! 👍

PS: I tried promoting VF in a new Facebook group: *Les Retraités Voyageurs du Québec*. I’d love to bring back the old dynamism of VF 👨‍🦳💼

Hi Jean, Just a question—do you just boil this liquid as-is and end up with syrup? Best, Sally

Hello Jean, Question, you just boil this liquid without anything else and you get syrup? Best, Sally

Hello Sally,

Indeed, we harvest the maple water (it’s actually intercepting the sap as it rises in the tree) and then boil it after passing it through an initial sieve for those of us, like me, who harvest the old-fashioned way (with buckets).

The boiling time depends a lot on the system used and the sugar content in the water. You should expect a ratio of about 40 to 1.

At this date, the so-called "sugaring-off" season has long ended in some regions and just finished in the northernmost areas.

I hope this answers your questions. If not, feel free to ask me any others you might have.

Cheers 😊👋

Hello, My mom (80) + my little sister and her husband are coming to visit you in October. In France, we can obviously find maple syrup. But is it better to buy it there? What’s the average price? In France, it’s about 4 € for 200ml... but we don’t know if it’s like honey... and so many other things. It’s not really about the price, I think. Just the real deal. Best, Sally

Hi, I hope you don’t mind me jumping into the conversation, Bauhaus won’t hold it against me, I hope 😛 The advantage of buying here is that you’ll have more choices, since there are several types of syrup (I’ll let our maple producer give you the details 😏) Here, it’s sold in cans (what you call "tin cans" in France) with a capacity of 540 ml. This year, the price is around $10 per can (it’s gone up a little because I think it was around $8 last year) There you go

Hi Sally

Just like Caribous mentioned, the price of maple syrup keeps going up.

But you can still find 540ml cans on special at big supermarkets (Maxi, Super C, etc.) for around $5.00 per can. That’s what I do—I wait for the sales and stock up. It’s great with salmon or as a sugar substitute in some recipes. 🥞🥞

For flavors, producers go by color: Dark, Amber, and Light. The darker it is, the stronger the taste. That’s my favorite! 😊 I’d say the light one is best for pancakes—just don’t heat it up. 🔥

If you’d like, I can buy some for you and you can pay me back when you pass through. As long as you’re in the Montreal area. Just let me know how much you want and which flavor. 😄

Hope that answers your questions!

Cheers 👋

Hi there, just wanted to chat a bit about maple syrup! 🙂

I love the Golden variety—its delicate, refined flavor is perfect for yogurt, crêpes, and other pancakes. The Amber is what I use for cooking. The Dark tastes too strong to me.

I buy excellent Canadian (and therefore, among others, Quebec) products from K., an online shop whose name I shouldn’t mention—otherwise, it might count as advertising, right?). Here, in supermarkets, the maple syrup on offer is like honey—often blends from who-knows-where, "made" in ways that aren’t exactly clear. Maybe slightly "less bad" in gourmet grocery stores? Prices have definitely gone up, but when you love something—and especially when the products are amazing...

Anyway, that was just my little chatter for today—nothing important, just a way to feel a bit closer to Montreal! 😇

Hi Dolma,

A lovely comment 😊👍

In any case, real maple syrup is still excellent. Just imagine a bit of maple syrup on blueberries from Lac Saint-Jean 😋😋😋🥰❤️🥰

As for this type of syrup: "Here, in supermarkets, the maple syrup offered is like honey—often blends that come from who knows where and are 'made' in ways we don’t really know." In Quebec, we call that "Pole Syrup" 😁🪵🪵

Cheers 👋