EASTON, Maine — The Maple Moose Sugarhouse in Easton joined nearly 30 sugarhouses across the state in hosting an annual celebration of the maple sugar season this past weekend.
Maple Moose is owned by CJ and Jodi King, who began producing their own maple sugar 11 years ago as a hobby before expanding from just 15 tapped trees to an average of 2,400 a year. The Kings’ sugarhouse has become a family business, with their sons Joe King and Jacob King helping during maple season.
“During the first year, we didn’t know one tree from another, so we walked out here and studied the different leaves,” CJ King explained during one of many “Tap the Tree” tours on March 24. “Once we knew what type of maples they were we painted “R” for red and “S” for sugar.”
As CJ King led a group of eight visitors through the woods of maple trees behind the sugarhouse, he stopped at the first maple tree that was tapped. He said that he looks for trees that are 40 years old and 54 inches around to ensure that they can support two taps, or holes. Four trees are needed to produce one gallon of sugar.
Throughout the woods he sets up a pipeline of tubes from tree to tree that has allowed him to avoid the more old-fashioned techniques of hanging buckets from trees and then boiling down sap to sugar in tubs over wood fires.
Ideal temperatures for sap collection are around 40 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and below freezing temperatures at night. The warmer late-winter temperatures in Aroostook County this year allowed the Kings to begin tapping around Feb. 20.
All sap collected then flows into a gathering tank, which transfers the liquid into the boilers inside a small room adjacent to the King’s sugarhouse. After the sap is boiled down, the liquid is further refined in a process called reverse osmosis which separates impure chemicals from the water. The end product is pure maple sugar.
“The maple that’s produced through these machines is purer than distilled water,” CJ King said, as he led tour participants through the boiling rooms and into the sugarhouse.
After the process is finished, CJ King tests the sugar for color and flavor. Maple Moose sells four flavors of syrup — light, dark, amber and gold — with the darkest flavors such as amber and gold giving the strongest taste of pure maple syrup. The Kings take the lighter flavors and sell the maple as soft-molded sugar candy, “moose pops,” maple cream and maple needhams.
In addition to the “Tap to Tree” tours, the Maple Moose offered many more activities on Saturday and Maine Maple Sunday, such as tastings of Taffy on the Snow, homemade corn fritters and fresh maple syrup as well as Easter-themed games and contests for children. Visitors also had the chance to buy maple products in the sugarhouse store.
A few of the “Tap to Tree” tour participants over the weekend said they had never been to a maple sugarhouse before.
“I loved learning how they tap the trees and how many trees it takes to produce the syrup,” said Caribou resident Laurie Smyth-Doody. “I’m looking forward to trying some of the fresh maple products.”
“I knew nothing about sugar production before I came here, so everything is fascinating to me,” Alex Warney of Blaine said. “The family is clearly passionate about what they do here.”
Jodi King noted on Saturday that the family had likely seen at least 500 people come to their sugarhouse. What began for her and her husband as a fun way to get outside after work has become a rewarding second career.
“We enjoy seeing the children’s faces when they bite into that taffy,” Jodi King said. “The whole weekend is a great way to get families together.”
More information on Maple Moose can be found online at https://www.themaplemoose.com/ or Facebook page.
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- The King family in Easton, who operate Maple Moose Sugarhouse, tapped 2,400 sugar maple trees this year. Production was on full display this past weekend as part of their annual Maine Maple Sunday tours, tastings and other activities. (Melissa Lizotte)
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- Abigail Blanchard, 5, (left) and her sister Annamarie Blanchard, 7, enjoy tasting maple sugar taffy at Maple Moose Sugarhouse in Easton on Saturday, March 24, while their grandfather Brian Blanchard looks on. (Courtesy of Terry Sandusky)
