In old Quebec, the Cabane à Sucre, or “Sugar Shack” was the focal point of family farms up and down the St. Lawrence River and beyond. Introduced to the region by settlers from Normandy in the 1600s, a sugar shack housed all the equipment necessary for the production of maple syrup. The method by which this sweet confection is made is fundamentally quite simple. Sap from maple trees is collected and boiled down to evaporate moisture and leave behind thick sweet syrup. Amazingly, it can take up to 40 litres or 10.5 gallons, of sap to produce 1 liter or 1/4 gallon of syrup. It goes without saying, that in order to boil down that much sap, fire is required – beaucoup - a lot of it. Subsequently, one of the most common aromas in an old Sugar Shack was wood smoke.
While syrup producers these days have replaced the traditional wood fire with electric pans, we've developed Sugar Shack Smokey Maple with a desire to produce a Maple throwback celebrating the much smokier days of old. In the cup, this one offers sweet maple notes offset by delicate tones of smoke that round out the cup and fill the mouth with thick sweet flavor. Brew a pot today and raise a toast to the hearty settlers who left behind such a sweet, sweet legacy.
Ingredients: lapsang souchong black tea, pineapple cubes, rosemary leaves, apple pieces, maple candy stars (maple syrup), rose hip peel, lilac dragon fruit cubes, walnuts, whole star aniseed, cinnamon rods, flavoring, pink pepper