On Friday morning, Kathy Hopkins ate yogurt and granola. Sean Horan had a fruit smoothie. Jason Lilley skipped breakfast altogether.

The three were preparing for the annual Maine Maple Producers Association competition later that morning, where they would serve as judges. What do you eat before sampling 14 syrups, three creams and three candies?

Definitely not pancakes.

“Eat a good breakfast first,” Hopkins advised. “Without any maple syrup.”

The contest is a tradition at the association’s annual meeting. More than 50 producers gathered at the American Legion Auxiliary in Gray on Friday for talks on tap sanitation, creating a healthy habitat for birds and the state inspection process. Meanwhile, the judges convened in the kitchen, shielded from onlookers by tan curtains in the window.

It’s a sweet gig, but one that requires serious street (or sugar bush?) cred. Hopkins retired from a 27-year career at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, where she was an educator in Somerset County (“The largest maple producing county in Mapledom,” she said). Lilley is the extension’s current maple industry educator, which means he works closely with the Maine Maple Producers Association and runs programs such as the maple syrup grading school, which Hopkins started for producers across North America. Horan is a climate-smart agricultural and forestry professional, a joint role between the cooperative extension and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. He has participated in syrup tastings at industry trainings, but this was his first as a judge.

The syrup entered in this competition was made in 2023. The judges said warm temperatures cut the season short, and some of the state’s 450-odd producers made only half of what they usually do. Still, there was a range of hopefuls. The tasting was blind, so the samples were waiting in identical glass bottles with no labels to indicate their sources. The contest accepted entries in each of the four grades of syrup: Golden Delicate, Amber Rich, Dark Robust and Very Dark Strong. The scoresheet identified four important categories for the judges to consider: density, color, clarity and taste.

They started on the lightest end of the spectrum. Only one farm entered the Golden Delicate category, but the judges still went through their process. Lilley poured a small amount of the syrup into a refractometer to test the density. This tool uses light to determine how much sugar is in the syrup. The judges were looking for a reading in a narrow range; too high means the syrup is super saturated and could produce crystals, and too low means it has a greater risk of becoming contaminated with mold.

The syrup passed the density test, so they moved on to the tasting. The judges lined up tiny paper cups – no waffles to distract from the pure flavor. They sniffed first, then drained their samples. They kept water bottles close at hand in case they need a cleanse.

“If it had any other competition, I think this would beat it,” Lilley said of the single Golden Delicate entry.

“Who needs coffee when you could have like eight of these?” Horan said, looking into his empty cup.

They moved on to the Amber Rich category, which had five entries. Clarity was the easiest to test; the judges checked for cloudiness or particles.

“Anybody look for floaties?” Lilley asked as they pour syrup into cups for tasting.

“They’re all clear,” Hopkins said.

“Is ‘floaties’ the technical term?” Horan asked.

With more options to consider, the judges shuffled the syrups on the table, moving them back and forth to create unofficial rankings as they went.

“More buttery,” Horan said of one entry.

“It’s OK,” Hopkins allowed.

“Yeah, it almost goes into butterscotch for me, but not in a bad way,” Lilley said.

GIVING PRODUCERS FEEDBACK

In the Dark Robust category, Hopkins held the first of six bottles up to the fluorescent light to test its color. They had a sample kit on hand to compare each entry against the ideal color for its grade. If the syrup is darker than the standard, it is disqualified for not meeting the color classification.

“Oh, dear,” she said, and her fellow judges stared intently at the sample. They hemmed and hawed. Was it too dark? They decided to allow it.

“It’s by no means egregious,” Horan said.

The judges made notes on the scoresheets, which would be returned to the producers. Those tidbits are often more valuable than the ribbons, said Lyle Merrifield, president of the Maine Maple Producers Association and owner of Merrifield Farm in Gorham.

“There’s a lot of useful information the producers can take back,” Merrifield said.

Two hours in, the judges had selected the winner in each grade. No syrups had been disqualified, which made the choices both harder and more exciting. They lined up the four top bottles. It was time to decide Best in Show, which goes to the syrup that best represents its class characteristics. The judges were quiet as they drained their cups once more. Lilley poured syrup into a spoon for one more taste. They counted down (“One … two … three”) and pointed to their favorite. The winner was unanimous: an Amber Rich that turned out to be from Merrifield Farm.

Syrups were done, but creams and candies remained. They made their selections carefully but quickly. They knew they would be feeling the sugar soon.

“I’m done,” Hopkins said, when the candy winners were finally decided. “I’ll be doing 80 all the way home.”

A FAMILY OPERATION

They gathered up the scoresheets. (“A little sticky,” Horan said, as he peeled forms off the table.) The reveal showed that Hilltop Boilers claimed four blue ribbons – Golden Delicate and Very Dark Strong, as well as cream and candy. Jen Bryant said her husband and his brother started making syrup in a fire pit on their family farm when they were teenagers, and today her own three children are involved in the business too. (Fourteen-year-old Thomas Bryant took home an award for young sugarmakers this year.)

Michael Bryant always sets aside jugs of his best batches during production, his wife said, and the family sits around the table before big contests to choose the entries from Hilltop Boilers.

“We do our own little tasting as a family before he decides which one,” Jen Bryant said. “It starts as a family unit, us pushing each other.”

She has taken classes to learn more about the nuances in flavor and color in syrup grades, and that experience gave her additional appreciation for the judges. (“I’m such a lush,” she said. “I can’t drink all the samples.”) A contest such as the Maine Maple Producers Association is more camaraderie than competition, she said.

“It’s so fun to see everybody share in the joy when people take home prizes,” she said.

After three hours of tasting, the judges could finally get solid food in their stomachs, but they hadn’t had their last taste of maple. Liz Tarantino, a friend of the Merrifields, had put together a lunch of pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw and baked beans – made, of course, with syrup.

“Always,” Tarantino said.

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