As I drive through Maine in late winter and early spring, I frequently see trees with attachments: pails, buckets, hoses. It’s a clear sign that sap is running and maple syrup is in the making. Maine consistently ranks third in the nation for producing the most syrup (Vermont and New York are ahead of us). We may be the Pine Tree State, but don’t forget about those maples!

The actual sap-to-syrup process was a mystery to me so I set out to visit a “sugar shack.” I went to the Maine Maple Producers website and selected Blais Maple Syrup, a family business in Greene, Maine.

I struck gold.

The Blais brothers, Mario and Alain, have lived in Maine since they were young. They embody the state’s virtues of work ethic, humor, and friendly helpfulness. They generously spent a couple hours showing me their sappy hobby. This generation of the Blais family isn’t the first to work in the industry. Their father used to spend the season in a cabin in the woods gathering sap with literal horse power. The process has greatly modernized, but Mr. Blais is still involved and — according to his sons — outworks them all.

We headed to the “sugar bush” to collect that day’s sap. The “bush” is a large area of trees that are all tapped. The Blais family has 1200 taps this season — the majority of which are connected by blue hoses that transport the sap to the collection vat.

Last season, the Blais family produced 140 gallons of syrup. What was most surprising for me to hear was the amount of sap it takes to get a gallon of pancake/waffle dressing. When looking at the sap that was gathered, all I could think of was my dishpan. Turns out that sap has quite a bit in common with soapy water — it is mostly water. It fluctuates by season, but this year it takes about FORTY gallons of sap to make ONE gallon of maple syrup. If you were wondering why the real stuff is more expensive than the imitation, now you know! The Blais family has installed a system of reverse osmosis that drastically reduces the amount of time they have to boil down the sap.

To actually view that process, check out some of Mario’s Facebook live videos from inside the sugar shack. Like so many Mainers, he works on the family business on weekends and in the evenings after he leaves his full-time job. His work is unrelated to sap and syrup. So how did he gain his vast knowledge of running a modern sugar shack?

…YouTube!

A huge thank you to Mario and Alain for their time and teaching. The ride on the snowmobile through the woods in the pouring rain is a fun memory that will last longer than these sweet goodies I brought home.

I’m on a mission to visit every town in Maine. Check here to see if I’ve featured yours yet: All The Visits. To learn more about this adventure, see the about page.