Lidl do a bio-one. I don't think it tasted bitter but I'm not an expert (and I used it with a spare ribs marinade so probably not the best test

My top tips for any foods that you might crave from home are, head to the basement food hall of you local Coop City in the centre of Basel. I always find that they have a wider variety of foodstuffs from other countries. Second, head to the English books section of the largest branch of Orell Fussli book shop. The one in Zurich has loads of things from the UK and the US, such as brown sugar, Aunt Jemima's and Reese's Spreads.

All maple syrup is BIO. It all comes from a tree in the woods.

https://youtu.be/PtjI9dEKZjs

https://youtu.be/27YofsHxW58

Just because it comes from trees doesn't automatically mean it's certified bio. There's also the question of fertilizers, pesticides, processing techniques, etc.

https://acadianmaple.com/blogs/maple...ic-maple-syrup

I can't say the stuff I've bought here in either Coop or Migros tasted strange, but I have noticed that it will grow mould a lot faster here than I remember happening in Canada. Perhaps there are different airborne spores here, perhaps I just don't go through it at the rate I used to.

I had Coop's maple syrup on pancakes this morning....no aftertaste, no bitterness. Seems like you had a bad bottle?

There are differences, however minor. For organic:

• No chemicals or pesticides are used on the trees or in the general area.
• Records must be kept as to when and where each drop of Organic syrup was made.
• Tree maintenance and health are considered by enforcing tapping guidelines for the producer and their trees.

From here

The syrup I’ve seen here is in the markets has not “graded” in any way that I’m aware of. I’ve seen color and taste vary among labels and suspect they often just blend whatever they have access to and call it maple syrup.

Was yours sold just as Canadian Maple syrup or did it come with the Canadian grade as well?

The stuff at the reform haus is usually C.

Tom

I’ll also add that I’ve never noticed an actual sugar maple tree growing in Switzerland. Perhaps there are some and I’m just not aware. I can only think of a handful of times I’ve even seen maple wood products here. There do not seem to be a lot of the trees around.

So in a general sense, what is being sold as Ahorn syrup, may well be from random maple types that simply produce an inferior syrup.

The original grading was based mostly on color and transparency. A was the lightest color and mostly transparent, B was a medium color and C was quite dark and commercial grade.

Now, for marketing purposes I assume, A and B are both called grade A and assigned color and flavor intensity. C has become "grade A very dark" or "processing" grade.

https://www.maplesource.com/maple-sy...des-explained/

I agree with Jag - the maple syrup I buy here seems to grow mold, whereas the maple syrup I'd buy back in the States never did.

There's very little sugar maple in Europe. It's indigenous to some parts of the USA and Canada and may be occasionally imported to the Old World as kind of a decorative tree because of its red foliage in fall (the trademark of "Indian summer"), but in Switzerland it's even rarer than Japanese maple, which is red also in spring, not only in fall.

A Google search for "sugar maple in Europe" yields five hits, not exactly breathtaking.

We have about 500 sugar maple trees on our property here in Leelanau, Michigan. In Leelanau County alone (about the size of an average Swiss canton, but only 22,000 inhabitants) there are at least ten Mom-and-Pop businesses that make and sell maple syrup, plus hundreds of land owners like us who make it just as a hobby.

Please feel free to come over and tap our trees. Boiling the sap down to syrup is a messy thing, though.

__________________

"This is AMAZING! I have the exact amount of money Joe Biden has cost us playing golf in my sweatpants pocket!" — Kona Lowell

Lidl will start their American week(s)(*) in eight days, that includes their Mcennedy maple syrup (they sell 250ml or roughly 8 ounces for about 4 CHF).



(*) they also have peanut butter, cranberries, pancake "liquid", bagels, etc during those weeks

Just have to laugh. Same stuff more paper work and higher $$$
Since when do maple trees get sprayed with pesticide?
Maybe in suburbia but not the forest.

Not sure why you find your own ignorance so funny?

When there's over-spray of pesticides from, for example, nearby Christmas tree plantations.

Also, organic maple syrup must come from forests where there are maple trees and a mixture of other species of trees - to ensure bio-diversity and so on.

I'm not saying that there's any difference in taste and I don't go out of my way to buy organic food but to say there isn't a difference between organic and non-organic is simply wrong.

Just checked in Orell Fussli and the one they stock is Buckwud Organic 100% Pure Canadian Maple Syrup.

It might be an idea to remember that the UK also have an appetite for Maple Syrup, so if any of you are going over soon, these are the best of the own brands as rated by Good Housekeeping

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/...0/maple-syrup/

The maple syrup is "Grade A" and is available as of next Monday, the 24th, for CHF 3.89 per bottle of 250ml as Urs Max mentioned.

We buy our maple surple at Costco US/UK/France. £6 for a litre in Croydon as I recall. Also get Skippy peanut butter £4-£5, cat litter, and in season Duraflame Fire Logs 9 x 5lb logs $9.97 at- Costco US, not much more in UK.

Lidl sell it too. Organic Even!

Lidl, Coop and migros do have decent maple syrup. For those of us who had been accustomed to small batch from local growers it’s not the same, but better than nothing! I will soon be purchasing from one or multiple private Canadian syrup importers and will share if they are better than the stores as the price point is very similar.