Small Maple Syrup bottles featuring different grades of syrup/

New Maple Syrup Grading System

Maple Syrup Grading: Colour and Flavour

In 2011, a new system was introduced for grading syrup. The industry, in order to create better optimization and control, came up with these new grading categories. More recently, these changes have taken effect. Here’s what these changes mean for you.

The old grading system was based on the USDA Standard grades USDA Grade A Light, Medium and Dark and Grade B. These have now been combined into four grade A categories inclusive of all saleable syrup.

The new categories of Grade A syrup are Golden Delicate, Amber Rich, Dark Robust and Very Dark Strong. Golden Delicate now replaces the Grade A Light category. Amber Rich includes the previous Medium category and also the very top of the old Dark category. Dark Robust includes the rest of the former Dark grade category and the very top of the Grade B. The new Very Dark Strong category includes all other syrup that was previously graded as cooking syrup.

The colour of the maple syrup is also reflective of the taste you get out of the syrup. This new grading system allows marketers to not just sell syrup based on colour but also on flavour. Lighter maple has a more palatable taste that everyone, including children, would like, while darker maple is a little bit closer to a molasses-type taste that is great for baking but not everyone likes the taste of.

We hope this information helps you in your purchasing and enjoyment of our maple syrup available online.