Breakfast syrups in the grocery aisle look pretty similar, but they're not all created equal. Most of the dark, sticky elixirs meant for drizzling on the likes of French toast and waffles don't have a drop of real maple syrup in them. Let us help you figure out what's real and what's not in the world of maple syrup, and you can decide if it's worth it to pay more for the real thing.
How to Identify Fake Syrup
Most fake products on the grocer's breakfast food aisle are labeled "breakfast syrup" or "pancake syrup" and, despite claims of being "maple-flavored," are not derived from the sap of maple trees. In place of real maple, manufacturers create a similarly sweet, thick, and sticky taste and texture from sugar, other sweeteners (most often corn syrup), artificial coloring, and water.
Breakfast syrup is cheaper than real maple syrup because it's a more scalable, industrial product that takes less time and technique to produce. A giveaway that a product does not contain real maple is that it boasts “artificial flavor.”
Products labeled with more confusing terms like “natural flavor” and “natural maple flavor” sound better but indicate that maple flavor is simulated by another natural product (as opposed to an artificial one). These products are not from a real maple tree.
If you find a product on the shelf labeled “maple syrup” or "Grade A"—or it lists “maple sugar” as an ingredient—it's the real thing. Those qualifiers tell you the product comes from a maple tree and has a sweeter, more complex taste, a thicker, more luxurious texture, and a higher price.
Qualities of Real Maple Syrup
Pure maple syrup is a beautiful thing, and many of us agree that the extra expense of drawing and boiling sap from tall, cold trees is well worth it. Granted, no one slathers their breakfast plate with maple syrup with the intention of improving their health, but the real stuff is not devoid of nutrients.
According to a 2022 nutritional profile, maple syrup is preferred over refined sugar and other natural sweeteners. It cites maple's high concentrations of phenolic compounds—which exhibit antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties—and minerals such as potassium, calcium, zinc, and manganese.
Calorie for calorie and carb for carb, maple syrup has a glycemic indexof 54, which is lower than sugar, honey, and many other natural sweeteners. This lower GI makes maple syrup a better choice for those with diabetes or other blood sugar issues, Also,maple syruptends to be sweeter, so you generally use less of it.
Glycemic Index
The glycemic index (GI) is the measure of the relative rise in one's blood glucose level 2 hours after consuming a specific food. The GI scale runs from 0 to 100: 0 is the score for zero-carb foods like meat and oil, while pure glucose (sugar) scores 100.
Foodwith a low GI (55 or less) doesn't raise your blood sugar as much as thosewith a medium (56 to 69) or high GI (70 to 100).
How Real Maple Syrup Is Made
Maple syrup-making has ancient roots. The earliest commercial manufacturers learned the process from indigenous people in Canada and the American Northeast, who had been using the sap of maple trees for a long time. When you consume maple syrup, you are channeling these traditions and supporting the hardworking artisans who sustain them.
To make maple syrup, artisans tap maple trees (that can grow more than five stories tall), extract sap, and then boil it down. The syrup's brown color develops during boiling—as the sugars caramelize and chemically change—leading to a deep, dusky flavor. The longer sap is boiled, the resultant syrup exhibits a darker color and deeper flavor.
There's another factor that affects maple syrup color and flavor, and that's when in the season a maple tree is tapped. Early in the season—late winter to early spring—cold temperature deters microbial activity, resulting in light-colored syrup. As spring temperatures rise, microbial activity increases, and the tapped syrup gets darker. Once a maple tree starts to bud, its sap quality declines and tapping season ends.
Grades of Maple Syrup
Unfortunately, the grading system for maple syrup is counterintuitive and confusing. Since the USDA recategorized maple syrup in 2015, all products available to retail customers are called Grade A, but that grade has four different levels.
Grade B went away, and there is no direct equivalent under the new system, but the qualities of the old Grade B overlap between the new Grade A: Dark and Grade A: Very Dark.
Let's sort it out:
- Grade A: Golden. This is the first syrup of the season to be tapped, making it the lightest in color and the most delicate in flavor. This grade is most comparable to a "breakfast syrup" made without real maple.
- Grade A: Amber. Tapped mid-season, this grade has a smooth, classic maple-ness. If you're a big fan of maple flavor, this is the grade you'll most likely want on the breakfast table to drizzle over pancakes, waffles, and French toast.
- Grade A: Dark. This grade has a stronger and deeper flavor, almost like brown sugar or honey. Its enticing caramelized flavors are well-suited to baking and stirring into co*cktails, tea, smoothies, and BBQ sauce.
- Grade A: Very Dark. This grade—the strongest, thickest, most maple tasting of all—is produced at the very end of the tree-tapping season. The intense flavor of this grade makes it a good substitute for molasses, and it represents maple flavor well in cooking and baking.
Is Real Maple Syrup Worth It?
If you're looking for a more complex syrup, maple syrup is worth the investment. When used in moderation, real maple syrup—called "liquid gold" in Canada—doesn't have to cost a king's ransom.
You can find great maple syrups at accessible prices. Trader Joe's offers two 8-ounce options: Organic Vermont Maple Syrup, Grade A: Dark ($5, traderjoes.com) and 100% Pure Grade A Maple Syrup: Amber ($5, traderjoes.com). Ounce-for-ounce, these TJ products run about 4 times more expensive than popular national breakfast syrup products, but real maple syrup's sweeter, richer flavor means you'll likely use much less of it.
Once you've appreciated the darker color and complex flavor of real maple syrup, you might want to think beyond the pancake. Before you know it, you'll find yourself using it to glaze grilled fish or flavor mojitos. Real maple syrup should be celebrated, and for what you're getting, it doesn't cost that much more.
