Same here, I love blueberries over maple syrup. But, I do not know what’s behind the reason for the latter being the most popular in the US.
Interestingly, a top story on reddit today. Don’t know if you saw it there or weird coincidence.
Just a riff on the cola comment. What we think of natural is a hybrid, sometimes manmade.
This simply isn’t true - the sugar content depends almost entirely on how it is processed.
The actual sugar content of the sap is highly variable, no matter where the tree is grown. However, it is always processed to make syrup (traditionally by boiling a long, long time) to get it down a consistent sugar content. It can never be “watery” unless it is deliberately made that way.
What can change is the other contents, which create the color and flavor, hence the grades of syrup, from light to dark.
Still not seeing what the heartburn is; all sorts of plants hybridize naturally. I kind of doubt most of the common types of citrus are deliberate hybrids- at best, people liked them so they propagated them.
And cola as we think of it doesn’t really taste like kola nuts anyway; it’s essentially a vanilla/cinnamon flavored soda with citrus flavors (or the other way around; I’m not sure). Kola nut doesn’t figure into it.
I saw it there and was reminded of this thread.
Tree sap from farther north may well contain greater or lesser amounts of other compounds than sap from trees from more southern reaches. Those compounds will influence flavor regardless of sugar content, no?
Mom made syrup in our house: boil equal parts white sugar and water, add artificial maple and butter flavors, and simmer while preparing the pancakes, waffles, corn fritters, or fried corn meal mush. When I tried real maple syrup, I couldn’t stand it.
Now we are going (almost) keto, so none of the above are on the menu. Darn it. I’m hungry.
Probably used mapleine.
It is certainly possible.
Though as pointed out, there exists a standard grading system for maple syrup (each country used to have their own, but it is now standardized) - from “golden” (the lightest and least ‘taste’) to “very dark” (the most ‘taste’) (these used to have different labels, like “grade A” or “fancy”):
I’ve never seen any evidence that a “golden” syrup made in (say) Quebec is different in any objective manner from a “golden” syrup made in (say) Vermont. Nor have I seen any evidence that different areas produce syrup of different “grades” in radically different proportions.
The one thing that will not vary, is how “watery” or how much sugar is in any particular grade of syrup. The amount of sugar in syrup is actually pretty consistent regardless of grade: https://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/sugarprof.pdf
Imitation flavors in little bottles from McCormick.
Do you suppose that maple syrup common sewers, like wine common sewers, might be able to identify the region from which a syrup originated? If so, might they also have preferences?
I have no idea.
Some folks definitely claim that it does:
How much of this is mere puffery, I have no idea.
Seems like something that would be possible to test though - blind taste test (say) “golden” grade syrup from various regions, see if anyone can get 'em right.
My (complete guess) would be that this would be impossible - that variations within a region, and in methods of manufacturing, would matter more than location.
Another article on syrup terroir:
Again, some claims, but hedged - one person says it does vary by region, but you can only tell if it is made by boiling the old-fashioned way, not made by reverse osmosis; another, that it does, but that weather matters more … but there is no consensus.
My guess is that coming by anything resembling evidence on this point will be tough …
I simply don’t understand the comments that real maple syrup is watery. I’ve never had that experience. The imitation syrups are far more watery than the real thing ever is.
But if that really is your history with maple syrup, then go for maple cream. That’s a recipe site for making your own, which is way too much work. I go to farm markets and pick up a little jar from the maple syrup sellers. I choose that particular page because it calls maple cream “the best spread on earth.” Which it is.
Maple cream is great stuff. My grandma made and sold it cottage cheese tubs. If you boil the syrup a bit longer and whip it a bit more, you get the fudge-like maple candy. Boil it even more and pour it on a snowbank and you get ‘maple wax’ which is like taffy.
Sunday dinners at the farm often had small bowls and an extra fork at each seat. For dessert they were filled with syrup (boiled extra) and we chatted while whipping our own maple cream - then spread it on fresh baked bread. That dessert was guaranteed to keep us kids in our seats.
Good times.
Oh, yeah. I remember my grandfather saying the first run sap in the spring gave the lightest syrup and got the highest prices. Later the syrup was darker and was used more for cream and candy - or sold to be diluted into Mrs Butterworths…
Maybe she’s born with it.
I never did care for its flavor. The real stuff, from our local trees just tastes right and true.
This is incorrect. A was the LEAST “refined” but they wanted to sell it to you because it was the cheapest to make. The whole “grading system” was basically “How long have we reduced this syrup over heat?” - A was the one that reduced the least, so it took the least amount of time, and you got the largest amount of syrup for the amount of sap you started with, but it had the weakest flavor because it wasn’t as concentrated.
You are both incorrect. 
All maple syrup is “refined” nearly the same amount: maple sap has around 2% sugar in it; it is concentrated until it has around 66-68% sugar. This is true of all grades.
The grading system “grades” the color and flavoring of the resultant product: Grade A is lightest in color and has the most delicate flavor.