Blue Ridge Country Jan/Feb 2025 - 79

a drizzle of Spruce Knob's cinnamoninfused
maple syrup.
According to the company's website,
maple syrup qualifies as a " superfood, "
rich in calcium, potassium, iron
and Vitamin B.
Ron credits his father Abner and
grandfather Claude for teaching him
volumes about maple syrup making
and sustainable forestry, along with
Dr. Mike Rechlin, who served as research
professor in the Appalachian
Program at Future Generations University,
a global learning organization.
The Swartzentruber family passes that
knowledge along during Mountain
syrup as a young boy, his grandfather, Claude Swartzentruber,
cooked down the syrup in an evaporator over
a wood fire. At the camp today, the heat source is gas.
Before that stage, though, the liquid must go through a
reverse osmosis machine to begin concentrating sugar
levels. It's a much more complex and sensitive process
than either of us had imagined.
Then there is the whole issue of color. Some customers
prefer a lighter syrup, while other customers seek
out a darker product.
" For the darker syrup, the sugar is getting browner.
It's cooking longer, " says Ron. " We think the maple flavor
carries through better in the darker, medium amber
syrups. Light syrup is great to put in the window, but for
pancakes, we like a good amber. "
And about breakfast. The Swartzentruber family
appreciates a good syrupy pancake, but they say consumers
shouldn't restrict maple syrup consumption to
mornings.
" Maple syrup is good as a natural sweetener for
meats, " Ron tells us. " It's good in baking, in hot drinks,
over ice cream, and with yogurt or oatmeal. "
Those uses are multiplied by Spruce Knob's ingenious
line of infused maple syrups, which, Ron adds,
take your mind away from just using maple syrup at
breakfast.
The infused syrups currently in the product line are
blueberry, bourbon barrel-aged, cinnamon, coffee amaretto,
ginger, hot chili pepper, lavender and sea salt.
Ron's personal favorite is the cinnamon-infused
maple syrup because of its versatility-in tea, oatmeal,
yogurt, on ice cream and in coffee. He describes it as
" French toast in a bottle, " adding that barbecue pitmasters
buy it and use it in their sauces.
We used it to create a quick, alcohol-free version of
Bananas Foster by lightly sautéing two sliced bananas
in a tablespoon of butter and then finishing them with
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025 79
State Maple Days, the third Saturdays in February and
March of each year, when the public can visit sugar
camps across the state. West Virginia is home to about
50 maple syrup producers.
The Swartzentrubers especially enjoy proving that
New England is not the only region in America where
exceptional maple syrup is produced.
And this enterprising family doesn't just make maple
syrup. The seven brothers and two sisters are involved
in dairy farming, landscaping, excavation work, rustic
furniture refinishing and produce farming. One is a
paramedic. Whether it's cooking down sugar water or
fixing a fence, hard work brings them joy.
Learning about the labor, knowledge and respect
for the land that define Spruce Knob Maple makes the
syrup even sweeter.
The products described in this story can be found at
spruceknobmaple.com.
Fred and Jill Sauceman study and celebrate the foodways of
Appalachia and the South from their home base in Johnson City,
Tennessee.
The Swartzentruber family's camp sits at
an elevation of about 3,200 feet. Climbing
the surrounding slopes, and reaching as
high as 4,000 feet, Ron and his brothers tap
about 17,000 maple trees annually. None
of those trees were planted by human
hands. They all grew there naturally.
http://www.spruceknobmaple.com
Blue Ridge Country Jan/Feb 2025

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