Getting darker.

I've noticed that the maple syrup that's being sold has gotten darker and darker in recent years. Just today I saw a bottle sold at the local grocery store that was marked as "Extra Dark". Most of the bottles were "Dark" and a few were "Amber". No "Medium" or "Light" to be found. Only a couple years ago, I marveled at how most of the maple syrup was "Medium". When I first started making my desserts, I had to find a specialty shop to find "Amber" maple syrup. (The darker the better for baking.)

The colour of the maple syrup is dependent on the quality of the sap from the trees. The higher the sugar content, the less sap is required to produce syrup and so the lighter the colour. Darker colours mean that much more sap was required, which generally would mean that it costs more as well. High sugar sap usually occurs during times where there is very cold (below freezing) nights and warm (above freezing) days. This promotes sap movement which then leads to more sweet sap.

However, with global warming there are less days in the year where the temperature hits that sweet spot for sap production. Only ten years ago there was talk about how rising temperatures could mean the end of lighter maple syrups.

I guess I'm seeing that evolution with my own eyes (and tongue).

Still yummy though.