Did I get served fake maple syrup?
Last week I was at a breakfast place in a Maine resort town and had some pancakes. The offered "real" maple syrup at extra cost, so I asked for it. It came in a plastic dish so I could not see the container.
It tasted like fake syrup to me, that bland taste. Normally, with real maple syrup I expect it to be pungent and "maple-ly" tasting, kind of like Laphroaig has a strong taste compared to Oban. Is this not an accurate expectation? Do real maple syrups have a range of tastes, including the bland store bought taste, or do all real syrups have a strong and unmistakable taste?
Best Answer
There is enough variation in maple syrup that grading systems (regionally different) have been introduced, treating each grade as a separate kind of merchandise. Actually, the more expensive stuff (grade A/AA) is subtler and might appear weak to someone used to the more flavourful and darker B/C grades.
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Is there fake maple syrup?
Fake maple syrup, also known as pancake syrup or imitation maple syrup, is basically maple-flavored sugar. And fake maple syrup isn't necessarily worse for your health than real maple syrup. It just doesn't come from tree sap, hence why it's considered fake.Is maple syrup at the store real?
When unopened, you can store pure maple syrup for at least a year (or more) in the pantry at room temperature. Once opened, you'll need to store it in the fridge. Since it's a natural product with no preservatives, pure maple syrup can go bad.Does IHOP serve real maple syrup?
The Vermont IHOP is the only one with real maple syrup IHOP has long been known for its roster of flavored syrups, but none of them -- not even the "old-fashioned" -- are actual maple syrup.Is pure maple syrup actually pure?
It's a pure product Once the sap starts flowing it arrives in the sugar house where it's filtered. Through reverse osmosis the sap is concentrated, and then it's boiled down until water has evaporated and we're left with pure maple syrup.Fake Maple Syrup
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Answer 2
To me, the corn syrup base fake syrups are clearly distinct, but I'm quite familiar with the real stuff in all its variations from sap to sugar. And what people taste or can distinguish seems to vary, a lot.
The flavor (and color) of the real thing does vary quite a bit, and the light-colored stuff is fairly mild, but it's still distinctly maple, not fake maple.
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