LOCAL VERMONT MAPLE SYRUP

Producing Pure Vermont Maple Syrup for Five Generations

Since 1871, five generations of the Isham family have been producing 100% Pure Maple Syrup at the farm. Like most Vermont sugar makers they’ve handed down their sugar making know-how from generation to generation, starting with Jairus Isham, followed by Homer, George, David, and now Mike Isham.

Sustainably-Made Syrup the Old-Fashioned Way

At Isham Family Farm, we still boil down the sap the old-fashioned way, with wood that has been sustainably harvested from the sugar bush. As part of our commitment to create a healthy environment for the 4 B’s: birds, bees, butterflies, and bugs; our woods were recently certified as bird-friendly as part of the Audubon Vermont Bird- Friendly Maple Project.

Solar Powered Sap Collector

The sap is collected with power that has been generated for the past decade by two large solar panel collectors. It is then minimally processed before boiling unlike most commercial operations. The sap is boiled in a wood fired Vermont-made evaporator to the highest allowable sugar content, resulting in a richer maple flavor.

We boil the sap using a Leader 30″ wide and 10′ long Vortex evaporator with a 6′ steamaway on the back pan. The “rig” can boil off up to 300 gallons of water per hour.  We fire the evaporator every 6 minutes with firewood, with all of that heat it’s important to monitor the level of the pan so as to not burn the syrup. After a boil, the rig requires roughly an hour of resting to cool everything down.

As an extra you can click HERE and listen to a podcast by Dr. Steven Shepard with farmer Mike explaining the VT maple sugaring process.

We begin shipping the freshest maple syrup each year after the first week in March! Order our maple syrup and taste the difference! All maple syrup comes in custom stamped Isham Family Farm syrup jugs.

Vermont Maple Syrup Grading

Vermont maple syrup is graded based on color and flavor, with the grade determined by the percent light transmission. The four grades of Vermont maple syrup are:

• Grade A Golden Color/Delicate Taste (previously known as Fancy)
• Grade A Amber Color and Rich Flavor (previously known as Medium Amber)
• Grade A Dark Color and Robust Flavor (previously known as Dark Amber and Grade B)
• Grade A Very Dark Color and Strong Flavor (previously known as Grade C/Commercial)

   At the Isham Farm, we found that we have many of our customers preferred that old Grade B color and flavor that is no longer graded on its own. The Grade B maple syrup on the dark side of the color range but more important also had the slight tang of the coming buddy/bitter taste. Grade B is used as a table grade for many and also cooking and flavoring as it still maintained the sweet maple flavor. The Very Dark and Strong Flavor was too bitter for most table grade maple syrup thus used primarily for flavoring and cooking.

We have this Grade B Special for sale in Half-Gallon and Quart sizes with a limited quantity.