Lots of Moons: What is a “Sap Moon”?

5 March 2015

The Short Answer (TSA)

The March full moon has many names including the “Sap Moon.” Sap refers to the sap of the maple tree. March was the time of year when Maple trees were “tapped” for syrup.

Although no longer just a product of North American maple trees, maple syrup was unknown to Europeans before the first colonies were established in North America. Native North Americans had been “tapping” maple trees for centuries before the first Europeans arrived in North America.

The maple tree stores its starch-rich sap in its trunk and roots which, in the spring, is converted into sugar and rises up to fuel new spring growth. At some unknown date, native north Americans began boring holes in the trunks of these trees and allowing the sap to flow into containers. The watery sap is then boiled to remove the water -- leaving a thick sweet syrup.

Early European settlers were introduced to the process of maple sap harvesting and, in turn, introduced the rest of the world to maple syrup. This originally North American product has been a relatively quiet hit throughout the world ever since.

Everyone knows maple syrup, but forgets that, to early American settlers, this syrup was used to produce so much more including sugar – maple sugar – maple butter, maple cream, as well as a popular candy and signature taffy.

In spite of its simple, homey reputation, maple syrup is recognized by culinary experts, the world over, as providing a unique flavor and is used in many different dishes prepared throughout the world.

Not only is maple syrup “graded” into many different varieties, but has been divided into 91 different flavors grouped into 13 families. Maple syrup tasters, like wine tasters, regularly exercise their skills to properly evaluate and classify particular batches of maple syrup.

Quebec, Canada remains the top world producer of maple syrup. The process of extracting the sap from the trees has been technologically streamlined over the decades, but maple syrup still comes from farms (called “sugarbushes”) and is still boiled to remove water in a shelter called a “sugar shack."