The sugaring process

From the quiet winter woods of Lovell, Maine, to the warmth of the evaporator pan, discover how Kezar Gorge Maple crafts pure, wood-fired maple syrup every spring.

Tapping the trees

In late February, as the daytime sun gently warms the forest and nighttime temperatures drop below freezing, sap begins to stir. We head out into the snow to carefully drill our sugar maples, fitting a mix of traditional metal spiles and modern lines to catch the early season run.

Boiling on the wood-fired evaporator

Sap is gathered daily until we have collected enough to begin the boil. Inside our sweet little sugar shack, the sap feeds into a wood-fired evaporator, boiling off gallons of steam until the natural sugars concentrate into rich, golden, pure Maine maple syrup.

Finishing, filtering, and bottling

Once the boiling sap reaches the precise temperature and density, it is carefully filtered for clarity and hot-packed into bottles. Follow our Sugarhouse Journal for season updates and plan a visit to the shack when the sweet steam rises again.