MATTHEWS MAPLE SUGARBUSH - A SUPPLIER HIGHLIGHT
Sixty Six Brix is a one-ingredient business and that ingredient is pure Ontario Maple Syrup. All our products and offerings are crafted exclusively with Golden Maple Syrup—and nothing else!
We get asked all the time where our Maple Syrup comes from, so we thought we’d give you a bit of background about our supplier, Matthews Maple Syrup.
Matthews Maple Syrup is a family-run business located two hours north of Barrie in Powassan, Ontario. Dave and Audrey Matthews began the business as a hobby. Dave has fond memories of his father, Bill, tapping his sugarbush in Loring, Ontario. In 1979, Dave and Audrey continued the tradition and purchased 30 acres of bush in Powassan.
Over the years, the business has changed and grown with them. In 1987, they purchased 30 more acres and switched from 500 buckets collecting sap to 500 taps on a pipeline. Today, they have 17,000 taps on 350 acres of property and 2021 marks their 42nd year as Maple Syrup producers.
Dave has a crew of four to six people and their daughter Jenny works full-time for the business. In addition to Maple Syrup, Dave and Audrey make a variety of maple products, including butter, barbecue sauces, granulated sugar, candies, and red pepper jelly. For the last 18 years they’ve been a mainstay at the North Bay Farmers Market and for over 5 years have supplied Sixty Six Brix with Maple Syrup for all our events and products.
So what does life in the Maple Syrup business look like?
Tapping begins mid-February and lasts for three to four weeks, depending on the weather. Ideal conditions for the sap to start running are temperatures of 5ºC during the day and -5ºC at night. This usually means they have a window of four to six weeks to collect the sap and start boiling. After tapping is complete, once the equipment is clean and stored for next season, Dave and his crew walk the bush to wash the lines that run the sap.
Dave and Audrey are busy with all things Maple Syrup year-round. Some days they’re making maple products or decanting barrels of syrup into bottles. If heavy winds come through, Dave and Jenny walk each line in the sugar bush to remove any tree branches that have fallen on the lines. Every day they have customers that phone or drop by for orders.
One of Audrey’s favourite tasks is making maple sugar candies. She says the aroma of boiling Maple Syrup is one of the best parts of the job. We couldn’t agree more!
Sixty Six Brix orders 3–4 barrels of syrup from Matthews Maple every year, and we always order Golden Syrup. Each stainless steel drum holds about 450 pounds of syrup—equal to 55 gallons. Sometimes Dave and Audrey make the journey personally to deliver the barrel.
Normally Matthews Maple produces 40% Golden, 50% Amber, and 10% Dark Maple Syrup every year, but weather conditions have to be just right. This year, the weather was unseasonably warm and sunny during syrup production, so the bush was dry because the snow evaporated. Instead of the usual 40% Golden Syrup production, they were only able to produce 10% Golden.
Golden Syrup, as its name suggests, is the lightest in colour and has the most delicate flavour. It pairs well with foods, which is why we use it in all our products. It makes the perfect match for our artisan cheeses to craft our signature sweet and savoury treat, the Maple Six. Matthews Maple Sugarbush is our preferred supplier for the beautiful and unique Golden syrup they produce.
