Maple Syrup

Capt Doufos · 2 Dec 2013 at 15:06

Does anyone know of any good sources for maple syrup in the UK? Supermarkets are very expensive, I am aware it's an expensive product but there must be cheaper options in larger quantities.

I am amazed it's not more expensive than it is really, you have to drain 20-50L of sap from trees to get 1 litre of syrup!

Jonny69 · 2 Dec 2013 at 17:37

Supermarkets over here completely take the mick with the price though. Even the cheap stuff which is only a small % actual maple syrup is ridiculously expensive.

Shame you can't get stuff like Funk's Grove sirup over here, but I'd probably be happy with maple flavor syrup if it wasn't as ridiculously expensive as it is.

glitch · 2 Dec 2013 at 19:39

Capt Doufos said:
Supermarkets are very expensive, I am aware it's an expensive product but there must be cheaper options in larger quantities

It's expensive stuff, period. There aren't aren't huge discounts on sensibly large quantities, unless you're talking gallons, and there are high costs involved in the export and import of the stuff.

Costco do a cheapo brand for around £1.20 per 100ml, if you don't care about quality.

Jonny69 said:
Supermarkets over here completely take the mick with the price though. Even the cheap stuff which is only a small % actual maple syrup is ridiculously expensive.

Well, not really.

Using your Funk's Grove as an example, it comes out around £2 per 100ml, without any tax or duty on. Premium quality supermarket stuff costs around £1.70.

Jonny69 · 3 Dec 2013 at 13:16

Funk's is small scale artisan organic syrup - I'd expect it to be expensive...

WillyNelson · 3 Dec 2013 at 13:27

I get a collegue from the US to bring me some whenever he comes over. Brought me a quart bottle of it last time

Capt Doufos · 3 Dec 2013 at 13:32

There are some on Ebay for about £12 for 950ml but it's Grade A Dark opposed to amber not sure how much difference it really makes, according to the wiki the amber comes from earlier in the season and has a milder flavour.

heeeed · 3 Dec 2013 at 13:38

http://blisgourmet.com/home/products/pure-maple-syrup.html

I brought a few bottles of this back with me from canada a few years ago on our honeymoon and it is frankly amazing. the bourbon aged one particularly is great. The only bad things is you feel bad for putting it on pancakes and porridge. you feel you should do something more special. mmmmm

Glaucus · 3 Dec 2013 at 13:44

Capt Doufos said:
There are some on Ebay for about £12 for 950ml but it's Grade A Dark opposed to amber not sure how much difference it really makes, according to the wiki the amber comes from earlier in the season and has a milder flavour.

In which case dark sounds better, who wants a mild taste.

Mel_P · 3 Dec 2013 at 13:58

Aldi - pure maple syrup at half the price of M&S or Tesco.

Guerrilla · 3 Dec 2013 at 14:10

Mel_P said:
Aldi - pure maple syrup at half the price of M&S or Tesco.

Came here to post this, haven't tried it myself but does seem a lot cheaper... Same with their Manuka Honey, way cheaper.

Capt Doufos · 3 Dec 2013 at 19:32

Glaucus said:
In which case dark sounds better, who wants a mild taste.

Just unsure of how much stronger the dark ones are, they are cheaper than amber presumably because it's a larger crop but all the supermarket ones are of the amber variety. One way to find out I guess.

We don't have an Aldi near here, I will see if I can get to one to take a look.

Phal · 3 Dec 2013 at 20:00

Colour has more to do with when the sap was collected I believe if I remember rightly but obviously taste will vary.

I'm from Canada originally and my parents have since retired and moved back to Canada so I have my syrup suppliers in place. I usually have a few cans of it lying around since it keeps forever.

Awesome on Pancakes and French toast with a bit of butter

Lately I tend to put a bit in some grapefruit juice too which cuts some of the tartness and makes it awesome.

It's a shame there aren't more maple products available here like the toffey-like stuff you get poured onto snow to cool and the fudge etc

glitch · 3 Dec 2013 at 21:00

Mel_P said:
Aldi - pure maple syrup at half the price of M&S or Tesco.

I thought it was around £3 for a 250ml bottle?

Grandessa branded stuff, IIRC?

Mel_P · 3 Dec 2013 at 22:38

glitch said:
I thought it was around £3 for a 250ml bottle?

Grandessa branded stuff, IIRC?

And M&S etc - nearly £6. Mind you - I haven't tried the Aldi stuff yet!

Glaucus · 3 Dec 2013 at 22:47

Capt Doufos said:
Just unsure of how much stronger the dark ones are, they are cheaper than amber presumably because it's a larger crop but all the supermarket ones are of the amber variety. One way to find out I guess.

We don't have an Aldi near here, I will see if I can get to one to take a look.

Got a link, think I'll try some.

Pinkribbonscars · 3 Dec 2013 at 22:55

Even in Canada it's expensive stuff, the UK in general has very reasonable food prices despite what some think. At Walmart here it's $13 for 1L which is probably amongst the cheapest you can get.

FrenchTart · 3 Dec 2013 at 23:21

Pinkribbonscars said:
Even in Canada it's expensive stuff, the UK in general has very reasonable food prices despite what some think. At Walmart here it's $13 for 1L which is probably amongst the cheapest you can get.

That's still a lot cheaper than over here. I've not seen seen a litre bottle of the stuff before and I've seen prices for smaller bottles that are around the £7-8 mark.

glitch · 3 Dec 2013 at 23:35

Mel_P said:
And M&S etc - nearly £6. Mind you - I haven't tried the Aldi stuff yet!

Larger bottle from M&S, Waitrose, etc.

I'm pretty sure the Aldi stuff flits between £3 and £3.50 for 250ml, where the last bottle I bought from Waitrose was £5.60 for 330ml.

Not quite the half price offer that was first mentioned, but I'll grant you it's cheaper than the 'premium' brands.

Pinkribbonscars · 4 Dec 2013 at 01:56

FrenchTart said:
That's still a lot cheaper than over here. I've not seen seen a litre bottle of the stuff before and I've seen prices for smaller bottles that are around the £7-8 mark.

The small bottles at stores that are actually pleasant to visit are comparatively much more expensive. It's cheaper than the UK, sure, but not as much as you might think and is still a premium product even here.

Hence why stuff like this happens:

Maple syrup worth up to $30M stolen in Quebec

D.P. · 4 Dec 2013 at 02:50

I tend to buy the 1L organic maple syrup from Costco. Isn't the greatest east but very good for price.

Maple Syrup

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