17-03-2025
NWPA's Maple Taste and Tour makes its sweet return
Maple syrup season is officially here with the 22nd annual Maple Taste and Tour kicking off this weekend.
Over 20 local farms are showcasing this season's maple syrup harvest, putting customers on a tour across six different counties.
You can't make maple syrup everywhere in the world, but in northwest pennsylvania, maple syrup tapping is a yearly event people look forward to.
And at last maple syrup season is here, with over 20 farms across 6 counties celebrating the 22nd annual Maple Taste and Tour this weekend.
'Maple syrup is such a natural thing, we've been making for about 25 years now. It's been something my youngest son and I started on a whim, and we've been making it ever since,' Bill Phillips, owner of Fort Leboeuf maple.
Visitors came to Fort Leboeuf Maple this weekend to tour the maple syrup-making process, eat pancakes and sausage, and of course, taste-test the maple syrup.
But making maple syrup isn't easy, and farmers go through a long process to perfect the sugary concoction.
'We run it through a reverse osmosis machine, boil sap, draw off syrup, we bring it out here into this room and we finish it, run it through a filter press and run it into our jugs,' Phillips said.
Now making maple syrup can be a long and complicated process. What you're seeing right here is the caramelization process, where they're separating that sap from the water, and eventually, you get that sweet goodness that's known as maple syrup.
'Syrup does not wait for nobody. When the season's here, it's here, it's time to go. It's kind of been late this year, which is kind of a blessing in disguise.' 'We can prepare all year for this, and you don't know when the weather is actually going to break,' said Andrew Furry, owner of Furry's Family Farm.
Furry Family Farms made its debut at the Maple Taste and Tour this year as a small family-run operation with under 500 maple taps.
And if you haven't had a chance to get your local maple syrup yet, it's not too late,
With the season getting a late start this year, there's still sap to be tapped.
For more information on local maple syrup farms near you,
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