# Birch Syrup vs Maple Syrup **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 14, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-syrup-vs-maple-syrup/441315 "2008-03-14T00:49:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-syrup-vs-maple-syrup/441315/1 "2008-03-14T00:49:10Z")
Now is the time of year that farmrs here in the NE tap sugar maple tress. it is fairly laborious-it takes about 30 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup. what about birch tres? they have a sap that contains sugar-does anyonemake birch syrup? I know beer was made from birch sap in colonial times-is birch beer still made? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-syrup-vs-maple-syrup/441315/2 "2008-03-14T00:54:57Z")
I bought a small bottle of birch syrup years ago when I was in Alaska. I still have most of it. It is sweet, but it has an undoubted ‘tree-like’ flavor to it that I don’t find appealing. It tastes a little like birch beer (and that’s easy enough to find in a lot of grocery stores near me) but with woody overtones. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-syrup-vs-maple-syrup/441315/3 "2008-03-14T00:56:57Z")
Birch syrup is less common than maple syrup becuase it requires 100 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. But it is available from [producers in Alaska](http://www.alaskabirchsyrup.com/abbisy.html), among others. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-syrup-vs-maple-syrup/441315/4 "2008-03-14T00:57:26Z")
[Here](http://www.alaskabirchsyrup.com/abbisy.html) ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-syrup-vs-maple-syrup/441315/5 "2008-03-14T02:57:03Z")
I tried birch and spruce syrups while in Alaska in 2000. There’s a reason why maple is the popular one; the others are simply unpalatable. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-syrup-vs-maple-syrup/441315/6 "2008-03-14T07:57:01Z")
If you’re condensing it by applying heat to drive off the water, it’s more prone to burning than maple sap, because of the different sugars (IIRC Maple is sucrose, birch is fructose) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-syrup-vs-maple-syrup/441315/7 "2008-03-14T10:31:57Z")
What other tree saps are edible? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-syrup-vs-maple-syrup/441315/8 "2008-03-14T10:54:50Z")
Palm sap is one that springs to mind (various different species) - harvesting it usually involves cutting down the tree and draining the trunk, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-syrup-vs-maple-syrup/441315/9 "2008-03-14T10:55:45Z")
In the UK and Northern Europe, there’s sycamore, but that’s a kind of maple, so perhaps it isn’t surprising. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-syrup-vs-maple-syrup/441315/10 "2008-03-14T11:49:43Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] spruce … unpalatable. [/QUOTE] I’m astonished, I tell you. Astonished! ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-syrup-vs-maple-syrup/441315/11 "2008-03-14T12:12:29Z")
[Walnut and Hickory.](http://books.google.com/books?id=ce1G-Nr9pVoC&pg=RA1-PA309&lpg=RA1-PA309&dq=tree+saps+are+edible&source=web&ots=fCxkxrBXzM&sig=dKl3RTFDpsOktxWdPDmNjOcToeM&hl=en) CMC +fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-syrup-vs-maple-syrup/441315/12 "2008-03-14T12:57:05Z")
The Larch. (OK, not really). ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-syrup-vs-maple-syrup/441315/13 "2008-03-14T13:53:14Z")
I hear that poppy sap is pretty popular. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-syrup-vs-maple-syrup/441315/14 "2008-03-14T14:03:53Z")
[QUOTE=Dominic Mulligan] In the UK and Northern Europe, there’s sycamore, but that’s a kind of maple, so perhaps it isn’t surprising. [/QUOTE] Yours is, ours isn’t. Our sycamore is what you guys usually call a plane tree. Don’t know if you can get syrup out of our sycamore, but I wouldn’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birch-syrup-vs-maple-syrup/441315/15 "2008-03-14T14:24:44Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] Yours is, ours isn’t. Our sycamore is what you guys usually call a plane tree. [/QUOTE] That’s interesting - I never knew that. > [@](#): > > Don’t know if you can get syrup out of our sycamore, but I wouldn’t think so. I’m sure you can - the only question is whether it will be edible/toxic/unpalatable. Nearly any deciduous, broad-leafed tree that has clear sap could probably yield syrup - as they’ll pretty much all be pumping sugar-water up to their developing buds, but some of them might not be good or safe to eat (which I expect is what you really meant anyway).