Guide to Maple Syrup Grades
Don’t know your rich from your robust? Our guide to the updated maple syrup grades is here to help explain the difference. Just pass the pancakes!
By Montana Rogers|Mar 07 2022|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanThere is no debate: pure maple syrup is delicious. The real question, especially among New Englanders, is how much maple syrup flavor is best — the lighter or stronger varieties? This, of course, is a matter of personal taste, but to know you’re getting the right level of maple intensity, you’ve got to know which grade to buy. Not sure? Our guide to maple syrup grades is here to help.
Photo Credit : Thinkstock
Before 2014, pure maple syrup was graded using three letters — A (light), B (dark), and C (very dark, and only sold commercially). Perhaps confused by their days in school, this system led many people to believe that Grade A maple syrup was somehow more refined and of a higher quality than Grades B and C. In fact, the quality of the syrups was exactly the same.
Maple Syrup Grades Differences
The only differences in the grades of maple syrup are their color and taste. Syrup made from sap collected early in the season has a lighter color, while syrup made later in the season, when the weather is warmer, is darker. The darker the syrup, the stronger the flavor.
In 2014, Vermont (the state with the highest production rate of maple syrup) introduced new, less confusing guidelines for maple syrup grading. In short, all syrups would be lettered “A,” but with more descriptive names.
In 2015, the Vermont system was officially adopted by the USDA, meaning you should now expect to see many maple syrup producers changing their labels. Here’s a guide to the four new maple syrup grades, along with their “old” names.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Guide to Maple Syrup Grades
OLD: “Fancy” or “Vermont Fancy”
NEW: Grade A | Golden Color and Delicate Taste
This is the lightest of the new maple syrup grades and highly recommended for drizzling over waffles, pancakes, or ice cream.
OLD: Grade A Medium Amber, Grade A Dark Amber
NEW: “Grade A | Amber Color and Rich Flavor”
This grade of maple syrup is a little more flavorful and works well when cooking and baking.
OLD: Grade A Dark Amber, Grade B
NEW: “Grade A | Dark Color and Robust Flavor”
This grade of maple syrup is even stronger in flavor and is best used for recipes that require a heavy maple flavor.
OLD: Grade C
NEW: “Grade A | Very Dark and Strong Flavor”
This grade of maple syrup is very strong, and probably best used as a substitute for molasses and for making maple flavored candies.
Do you approve of the new system for maple syrup grades? Which grade is your favorite?
And now that you have a guide to maple syrup grades and can purchase the correct variety for what you’re looking for, we think it’s the perfect time to try some of our favorite maple syrup recipes.
This post was first published in 2016 and has been updated.
FAVORITE MAPLE SYRUP RECIPES:
Maple Syrup on Snow
Maple Walnut Muffins
Maple-Walnut Ice Cream
Maple Baked Beans
Are you sure this is correct? You say that the old Grade A Dark Amber is now both Amber Color and Dark Color. Which is it?
Very confusing article. I think this should be reviewed for correctness.
Hi Don. The new grading system is a little tricky… Here’s a link to the official site of the VT Maple Sugar Makers Association for more info straight from the source! http://vermontmaple.org/maple-products/maple-syrup/
Error on link … this is good https://vermontmaple.org/maple-syrup-grades
why even have the “A” rating when all are rated “A”?
Because some maple syrups are not grade A and also not available at your supermarket.
“To be sold at retail, all Vermont syrup must be clear, meaning there is not excessive mineral haze, a naturally-occurring outcome due to maple syrup’s mineral content.
Maple syrup is then classified into four distinct color classes: Golden, Amber, Dark, and Very Dark.”
So if it’s not grade A it’s not available in retail outlets
I’ll take maple syrup in any grade! My preference is on the Amber rather than the lightest, but they are all delicious!
after reading the new system I am more confused
Agreed. A, B, and C keeps it simple and love them all!
Think of maple syrup as a continuum, and you’ll understand the difficulty of trying to define and limit the various “levels.” The new “Grade A/Amber Color and Rich Flavor” is the range from Grade A Medium to Grade A Dark” – and is almost certainly the same syrup that any of us with access to New England used for ourselves. We’d buy small quantities of the “Fancy” as gifts for friends, but get the somewhat more robust flavor (medium or dark) for ourselves. Remember, we’re looking at a continuum, so that the fact that the old Grade A Dark Amber is shown as both Amber Color and Dark Color really shouldn’t be that confusing. The lighter syrup will be the Amber Color, and the darker will be categorized as Dark Color and Robust Flavor. Perhaps because my familiarity with maple syrup goes back many, many years, I do not find this at all difficult to understand. If you only liked the very light colored syrup, then you continue to get the lightest syrup. If you enjoyed the somewhat darker, then get the Amber Color and Rich Flavor.
They are probably trying to avoid the implication that “C” not as good as “A,” that they are simply different. But if everything is an “A,” then nothing is. Is there another set that are all “Bs”? Lose the “A” and use the colors instead: Golden, Amber, Dark, Very Dark.
The best way to tell which one you like best is to sample it, like wine. Pour a small glass, and just drink it . . slowly . . letting your tongue savor it, as it coats your mouth. Then move on to a glass of the next grade . . then dip a strip of crisp applewood smoked bacon into it . . then make some pancakes . . ????
I have always been a big fan of Grade B, whether it’s for cooking or using on my homemade waffles. It’s just more challenging to find as the A grades are more popular and available.
Love them all for different purposes. Prefer the Amber for personal use. As we all know, change isn’t always positive
Here in Texas we’re just glad to be able to find real Vermont maple syrup. I never paid attention to the letter grades, but recently I found a bottle labeled “dark color and robust flavor”. Tried it, loved it, stockpiled it. I probably wouldn’t have picked it out if not for the label, so I like the change.
The new system is obtuse and useless.
I agree with using color and flavor as a guide. Drop the A and keep the suggested usage. Ex. Golden/Mild; Usage/ pancakes, waffles, ice cream.
Better to create your own labels after taste test ; using color as differentiation; as taste is a consequence of palate . Then apply your personal taste preference to determine the visual as a clue to your taste results
I completely understand the grades
The grade still doesn’t establish the consistency. Some syrups are like water coming out of the bottle while others are thick and syrupy. I know that this can depend on the boiling down time, but there should be more of an indication on the container.
Maple Syrpul’s good upon – Pancakes, Hoecakes, Johnnycakes, More! Amber, Golden – Watch it Pour! Yummy, scrummy taste of home – take me back through Time’s wide door.
It is not easy out here in the west to find real maple syrup. We usually have to buy Aunt Jemima or other doctored brands. I did find “Private Selection” Grade A Dark Color Robust Taste Maple Syrup. I just checked it and it does comply with the new grading. In addition I do recall it was a little more maple flavor than I am use to.
Every grocery store here in California, and Trader Joe’s has “real” maple syrup, and most places have different grades as well. The flavored kart based stuff is truly an abomination ?
Nobody ever has to buy fake syrup. Don’t know why anyone ever would. And don’t know why anyone would but american maple syrup over Canadian maple syrup.
Raised in NH and really liking the flavor of maple syrup, my preference has always been Dark Color and Robust Flavor. As a youth spending Saturdays helping collect (the old fasioned way – you know, pails) and boil down the syrup, I was paid with a quart of the dark stuff.
30 years ago Grade B and C were not only darker and more flavorful but thicker in consistency. I have bought the “new” grade B and it ours like water. Return to the old designation!
Just recently bought something labelled “Pure” maple syrup for the 1st time – with our area’s largest grocer’s label on it. Don’t know what grade it is or how it would be labelled in New England. Previously had only used Mrs Butterworth, Aunt Jemima brand “pancake syrups.” BUT WHAT A DIFFERENCE. The pure maple syrup had a great deal more flavor! Night & day – wow! Won’t be able to go back to my old standbys again – I’ve been spoiled.
My grandmother’s sister would come down from canada and bring a gallon tin of maple syrup was excellent dont know what grade of syrup it was. It was very strong maple tasting and she would also bring a one pound brick of maple sugar (it looked like a pound of butter) this was maple heaven
Something to consider, maple sap not only comes from sugar maples but other types as well. My kids teacher tried boiling sap down to syrup in the kitchen and the wallpaper peeled off the wall.
What a marvelously absurd solution to a nonexistent problem. The circular firing squad of American producers shall be remembered as fools.
We liked the old system – we could get either grade A, medium or grade A, dark for eating and know exactly what we were getting. Now we have no idea how dark “Grade A | Amber Color and Rich Flavor” will be. And the grade A dark amber we used to buy for eating was NOT equivalent to grade B, which I used for cooking and bought at the same farm. They messed up a perfectly good system in the name of marketing and made it harder to get what we like.
I love these articles that say, “the old A Medium is now Amber Rich” and “the old A Dark is now Dark Robust”. Stop writing this as fact as it is far from it. The only old that became new (or very, very, very close to it) is Fancy/A Light Amber became Gold Delicate (thank you Vermont for defending your Fancy grade legacy). That is where the old becoming new ends. Medium Amber and about the third of the Dark Amber range were merged into Amber Rich (so yes, Amber Rich can be considerably darker than Medium Amber was). Dark Robust is comprised of the remaining “2/3” of the A Dark and the top “half” of what was formerly known as B (Again, Dark Robust can be darker and stronger than the old Dark Amber). The intent clearly being to open up the markets to good tasting table appropriate syrup that was “just too dark” to receive an A grade under the former rules. And finally, the Delicate, Rich and Robust monikers are not just for fun. Producers are supposed to actually taste and grade syrup based on those flavor designations. Admittedly, taste is subjective, but when you get strong nasty flavored syrup, you know what it is and more importantly, what it isn’t. Super light syrup made at the very tail end of the season is NOT Golden Delicate, no matter how much it was processed to be clear in color…
There are only 3 grades of maple syrup. A, B and C. Anything else is down coutntry flatlander marketing. Talk to a New Englander if you are confused.
Except it was Vermont producers (not flatlanders) who insisted on changing it to Grade A for everything.
Grade A Medium Amber Vermont Maple Syrup can probably be found in my DNA. I doubt I’m the only one. Its flavor is easily accessed, but not overwhelming–in the way molasses is not sorghum, I guess you might say. So that’s the one they eliminate?! What is the matter with people?
I used to eat the fake syrup on pancakes etc. But once I tasted genuine maple syrup, I couldn’t stomach the fake stuff. The real maple syrup is so delicious that it’s addictive. Maple syrup and real butter on waffles! Yum!
Leave it up to the government to take a perfect system and make it perfectly confusing.
I’m pretty sure the government only approved the manufacturers’ suggestions for labeling.
It is like buying a pair of pants, not all small’s are small, not all mediums are medium, not all large are large. I think it should try to stay the old way, any way around it they are all amazing.
What an absurd solution to a nonexistent problem. It was a very poor choice, IMO, and just a way to batch product for sale.
I live in Belgium and can tell you that over the past decade or so have seen the availability of maple syrup really improve. It went from a few shops usually having it but best go to the health food store, to virtually every grocery shop having maple syrup- sometimes even two different brands. Grading- good luck on that here- Oh and the Dutch finally have maple syrup more and more (I live on the border). I bought some grade C syrup there early March- not much taste though, wonder if the grading is different for export?
My Albert Heijn now has four different varieties of maple syrup in four different places – next to the schenkstroop, next to the honey, in the “expat” section (costs twice as much there), and in the organic section. The organic section says “Grade A” and looks like medium or dark amber (that’s what I have bought). I think one of the other varieties still says “Grade B”…
How about just “Light” “Medium” “Dark” and “Very Dark”. You can even add inbetweens and an extra-light if you want to. Heck, why not go with a number. I wonder how much money was spent on this. Somebody took home a paycheck for this and all the packaging had to change and that cost somebody .
Can someone tell me how long maple syrup is good for?
If ALL maple syrup is Grade A, why have grades at all?
Just indicate the ‘flavor’ of it, drop the grade…
Continuity from the old system to the new system. Not every one got the memo about grades not representing quality. So for them, A was the best quality, now everything will get an A on the bottle.
Virtually forever unopened. Once opened, refrigeration is recommended to prevent mold from growing on the surface. However, any mold can be safely removed from the surface, and the syrup underneath will be fine.
I find it helpful to know that Grade A maple syrup is the lightest of the maple syrup grades and best for drizzling over waffles, pancakes, and ice cream. My partner plans to purchase maple syrup this weekend for our kids. I’ll tell her about this article to ensure she gets Grade A maple syrup. Thank you for this. https://www.ambertaps.com/buy_maple_syrup.html
The article states that all syrup is now Grade “A”, you’ll need to choose| Golden Color and DelicateTaste. I prefer Grade A | Amber Color and Rich Flavor”, it tastes the best IMO.
Hi Can any of you New Englanders tell me if 100% pure maple syrup with dark floating bits is still good to eat? It looks OK, pours OK but these “skins” are unsettling. Thanks for any input… Not often we can source anything this pure here and I’ve had it in the pantry a while.
If you have had it in the pantry and it is opened, you may have bits of mold floating in the syrup. Maple syrup will keep pretty much indefinitely since it so high in sugar, but should be refrigerated after opening to prevent any growth at the top. Any growth would normally be on the top only since nothing can grow in the syrup (too high sugar content). We have had this happen and just ran it through a filter (coffee filter) to get rid of whatever was in it and it was fine. Your mileage may vary.
I am looking for a maple syrup that is high in mineral content. I was told that the dark amber (formerly grade B) was the one I wanted. Also to get it from a supplier that did not formaldehyde pellets in the process of tapping the trees. I want to use this for the Master Cleanse with is fasting cleanse and requires this type of maple syrup. Any ideas or suggestions? I am in NYC. Thank you
Great article! Clear, concise, and informative! We just returned from a trip to the Northeast and brought home a jug of Golden for ourselves and smaller bottles for stocking stuffers for family.
Ridiculous! Grading it all A is only a marketing ploy and makes it more confusing, not less.
I agree 100 %
The new system is not just confusing, but is clearly designed to allow darker, more bitter lower grades (whatever you want to call it) to be sold for a higher price. To my taste, the new “Dark Color and Robust Flavor” has so much of the old B grade in it that it has become almost unpalatable, while the new “Amber Color and Rich Flavor” is too thin and mild to do the job.
I want my old “A Dark Amber” back!
May favorite has always been dark maple syrup. The light stuff just doesn’t have the flavor. I use maple syrup to make 3 ingredient chocolate–raw cacao powder, organic virgin coconut oil, and maple syrup to sweeten. Divine! If I want chocolate that won’t melt at room temperature, then I add cocoa butter with the coconut oil.