# Maple syrup **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 26, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400 "2012-06-26T23:16:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/41 "2012-06-27T11:26:01Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > So it would seem that a majority of people prefer maple syrup over the fake stuff, and would be happy to pay a premium for it at a restaurant (assuming the pancakes/waffles are of acceptable quality\*). > > Then why aren’t more places offering the upgrade-for-money option? Are we a statistical anomaly, unrepresentative of reality? People say all sorts of things in surveys that they don’t actually do in reality. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/42 "2012-06-27T11:30:20Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Maybe the premium people would be willing to pay wouldn’t be high enough to make it worthwhile for the restaurants to do this. Or maybe they simply don’t realize that there’s a high enough demand. Or maybe it simply hasn’t even crossed the minds of most restaurant owners. Or maybe the vast majority of restaurant patrons have no idea what is going on and the restaurant owner doesn’t want to bring up the topic. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/43 "2012-06-27T11:40:04Z")
Here in Troll Country even the fake stuff is expensive. The real stuff is a sometimes indulgence. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/44 "2012-06-27T11:40:06Z")
Real maple syrup, always, and never never never the nasty fake stuff. Had a roommate with a girlfriend from France who had never had the real thing; she bought the fake stuff because it was cheaper. I’m not saying it caused their break-up, but I wouldn’t have blamed my friend if it had. Also, I prefer the Finnish thin, eggy, crepe-like pancakes over the American-style puffy, floury, doughy things. Or the Finnish version of the Dutch Baby-type of oven pancake. I know, you are supposed to serve them with strawberry preserves, but we are all born in the US and live in sugar maple country, so real maple syrup, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/45 "2012-06-27T11:45:50Z")
[quote=“Antigen, post:36, topic:626400”] Then why aren’t more places offering the upgrade-for-money option? Are we a statistical anomaly, unrepresentative of reality? I use real stuff exclusively at home and I’m tempted to start bringing a syrup flask with me to restaurants, because it’s almost impossible for me to find a real syrup option at any of the breakfast spots around here. /QUOTE] The people who would enter a thread like this and vote in the poll are people who care about taste and flavor, and are not representative of the population at large. I suspect that profit margin on breakfast is very low, and breakfast places that are not top quality simple can’t afford the time and extra effort it would take to provide real maple syrup. Especially if they have to take possible employee theft into consideration. Great breakfast places usually do provide it on request or for a fee, at least here in maple country, but not in the bargain breakfast joints. I’d say, it’s worth it to bring your own flask of the real thing. I would, if I ate pancakes and waffles out instead of making them myself. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/46 "2012-06-27T12:23:32Z")
Lets flip this thread over to Cafe Society, from IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/47 "2012-06-27T13:02:36Z")
I usually buy maple-agave blend, so there’s _some_ real maple in it and it’s pretty decent. But this week I did splurge on a bottle of the real thing. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/48 "2012-06-27T13:32:03Z")
I like the fake stuff and the real stuff in the sense that they’re both sweet; that’s the most important part. I slightly prefer Aunt Jemima’s (et al.), but I wouldn’t turn up my nose at the real deal. For the record, I was raised on the fake stuff. HOWEVER…I hate just about everything (besides syrup) that has artificial maple flavouring. [Like these foul, foul cookies.](http://www.darefoods.com/Flavour.aspx?id=12&fid=56&lang=en)[Or these putrid donuts.](http://www.flickr.com/photos/like_the_grand_canyon/3174717598/) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/49 "2012-06-27T14:51:39Z")
Boysenberry syrup beats maple for me, but they’re both good. I would like the option of paying extra for the real maple stuff. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/50 "2012-06-27T15:07:09Z")
Fake maple syrup is an abomination, a crime against both nature and humanity! :mad: I was out shopping once with my daughter (she was 12 then, I think), and she asked me why I always bought the more expensive stuff. I handed her a bottle of some famous brand of “breakfast syrup” and asked her to read the label. After she had rattled off a half-dozen artificial ingredients, I handed her a bottle of the real stuff and asked her to do the same. There were three words on it: “Pure maple syrup.” If I can’t find real MS, I’ll put jam or honey on my pancakes. I also like the thin, eggy kind with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and some lemon juice. Plus butter. Lots and lots of melted butter (NOT margarine). Boysenberry syrup—well, boysenberry anything is to die for! I’d use that too, if I could find any, which I never can. I’ve always thought it’s a California thing. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/51 "2012-06-27T15:10:24Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > This is the correct answer. 🙂 > [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > I buy it by the quart, and it’s usually $20-$25. Where’s the jealousy smiley? Trader Joe’s has 750 ml Grade B maple syrup for $14. (I’ve been buying it since it was $9.) I keep one ‘in-use’ bottle and one unopened bottle at all times. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/52 "2012-06-27T15:27:53Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > On the few occasions where I’ve shared the real stuff with people, I have to ask them (nicely) not to pour gallons of it over their pancakes or waffles and leave most of it on the plate when they’re done. You can do that all you like with the cheap fake stuff on your own dime, but I dislike people wasting my food and beverages. This is why I don’t care for the real stuff. When I was a kid, real maple syrup was guarded as if it was the ambrosia of the gods and we’d get one small dollop in the center of our pancakes. Well, the real stuff always sank right into the center of the pancake and left me with 4 inches of dry-ass pancake surrounding a mushy uber-maple center. Not nearly as enjoyable as the experience of the thicker fake syrup flowing over the entirety of the pancake and mixing with the butter for a nice trifecta of flavors and textures. Now, I suppose I could buy the real stuff and use as much or as little as I want but the issue is moot because on the rare occasions I have pancakes or waffles, I always use fruit syrups. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/53 "2012-06-27T15:36:53Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > So you’re saying that the lack of a market response invalidates this poll? I’m not going to claim that a poll on this (or any other) board is statistically significant, but the lack of a market response is hardly evidence that it’s not. I’m skeptical that markets are always that perfectly responsive to public opinion. The real world just doesn’t work like that, regardless of what some may believe. > > Maybe the premium people would be willing to pay wouldn’t be high enough to make it worthwhile for the restaurants to do this. Or maybe they simply don’t realize that there’s a high enough demand. Or maybe it simply hasn’t even crossed the minds of most restaurant owners. I’m not claiming that this poll is valid market research! I have just always thought it odd that despite the obvious (to me) superiority of real maple syrup, restaurants aren’t cashing in by offering it as a luxury upgrade item. But I’ve never run a restaurant, so I don’t know how it would even be implemented or if it makes good business sense. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/54 "2012-06-27T16:02:28Z")
I don’t think not having real maple syrup would fly, around these parts. You’d get laughed out of the restaurant business, I suspect. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/55 "2012-06-27T16:13:06Z")
I love the real stuff, but since I’ve got diabetes (thanks, paternal grandparents!) I’ve had to switch to the fake stuff. Most are super-disgusting, but there’s one (1) that I’ve discovered that I like as much as the real stuff: [this stuff](http://www.maplegrove.com/product_detail.asp?pid=82). It’s got a thicker texture than the real stuff, but the flavor is pretty damned close to the real thing. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/56 "2012-06-27T16:23:43Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Boysenberry syrup—well, boysenberry anything is to die for! I’d use that too, if I could find any, which I never can. I’ve always thought it’s a California thing. ☹ It is, since they were “invented” here. They just never spread that much, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/57 "2012-06-27T16:28:27Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It is, since they were “invented” here. They just never spread that much, I guess. I grew up on boysenberry syrup. That’s all I’d ever eat on my pancakes until I became an adult (chronologically, at least) and discovered what real maple syrup tastes like. (My maternal grandmother lived in Anaheim, and we went to Knott’s Berry Farm almost every visit.) Nowadays I’ll choose the Grade B maple, but boysenberry is nice for nostalgia and for the occasional change. It’s just too bad I can’t eat _two_ stacks of pancakes, with maple on one and boysenberry on the other. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/58 "2012-06-27T16:36:11Z")
When referring to “fake” syrup are you talking about syrup that has some artificial maple flavoring (fake maple syrup) or do you include other syrups that don’t pretend to be maple? ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/59 "2012-06-27T16:40:28Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > If he (she?) thought it was tasteless, it may have been Grade A, which is bizarrely the inferior stuff; as I understand it, Grade A is more highly refined and therefore less maply than Grade B. It’s definitely worthwhile to find Grade B if you can. > > Or maybe he’s a smoker. I’m a smoker who can taste EVERYTHING, believe me. 😛 But, I just checked, and the terribly disappointing stuff I have in the cupboard is in fact Grade A, so I will not get that again. I doubt there’s any Grade B to be had around here, as I am as far from Vermont as you can get and still be in the continental US, but next time I go looking, I’ll look for the B stuff. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400/60 "2012-06-27T16:40:51Z")
After I moved to Europe, I discovered Schwartau jams, made in Germany. Back in the '90s, they made boysenberry jam, and I used to buy 2–3 jars of the stuff at a time (in Moscow, it was and still is really expensive). I just realized I haven’t seen any on sale for a long time, and did an Internet search. I can’t seem to find it offered anywhere there, either. Will Knott’s ship stuff to Canada? Is there a boysenberry problem with Canadian customs? 😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maple-syrup/626400.md?page=4)