Turning Summerland sap into sweet syrup

Dozens of people came out to Nomad Cider in Summerland in March to see sap turn into sweet syrup tapped from trees on the property.

Roch Fortin, of the Okanagan’s Maple Roch store, was busy boiling the sap and explaining to guests how the sap tapped from a dozen or so sugar maple trees on the property is boiled for days to a certain brick count and then bottled.

After all this work, Maple Roch will only get around 15 litres of the pure Summerland syrup.

“It’s a labour of love and it’s worth it because we can say that we can make pure maple syrup here in Summerland, not just in Quebec or New Brunswick,” Fortin says.

The smell of maple was in the air once you got close to the boiling sap.

Fortin was even giving small samples of the sweet stuff to taste.

All locally produced maple products will have a touch of Summerland sweetness in it, including Maple Roch’s popular granola that the Canadian Women’s Olympic soccer team uses to fuel them up for breakfast, Fortin says.

He’s hoping the granola will make its way to the Tokyo Olympics.

Nomad Cider’s maple bourbon was also available for outdoor tasting.

“We wanted to show consumers that we can support local and truly be local, that is why we’re adding a little of local Summerland syrup to things like our maple granola and barbecue sauce,” Fortin says.

Plan your future adventures throughout the West Coast at westcoasttraveller.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @thewestcoasttraveller. And for the top West Coast Travel stories of the week delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our weekly Armchair Traveller newsletter!