- [voiceover] welcome to new day cleveland. i'm natalie herbick. are you ready for maple madness? i didn't know this, but ohio is actually one of the top five maple sugar producers in the country. and here in geuaga county, it's the top producer in the state of ohio. and we are in the midst of maple season. so today we're gonna show you how it gets from the trees, to you. and it starts here at ma and pa's maple tours, where scott, you guys do things the old fashioned

- that's correct. we have sap buckets hanging on the trees and we'll go out and cut some sap and show you how to tap a tree. - [natalie] let's go get some of that ooey, gooey, sticky goodness. - [scott] okay. - [natalie] you ready? - [scott] okay. (kiss) come on cindy. - here we go! (gentle music) so how many acres do you have here? - [scott] we have five acres here with approximately 130 taps. - [natalie] 130 taps? - [scott] that's correct. yes. - [natalie] how can you tell, i mean, for you it's probably easy, but for someone like me, how do i know which trees a maple tree? - a maple tree has a five clove leaf and the bark is a grayish, the smooth bark when they're young. when they're older they get, they get real coarse. - [natalie] all right, this is the easy part, right? once we're off the horse. - yes. - all right, so it's a dead giveaway because the buckets are here, but you were saying you can tell by the color of the tree that it's a maple? - [scott] that's correct. it's got a grayish color, it's smoother bark, the tighter bark. and in the summer time it will have

so, and it will be a dark green. so these are sugar maples. this tree's probably 70, 80 years old right here. - [natalie] wow. - [scott] tree's gotta be 40 years old, about 8 inches in diameter before you can tap it. - [natalie] before you can tap it. - [scott] that is correct. - because it's got to have, i mean, if not? - [scott] it needs to be a healthy tree to be tapped. - [natalie] all right. so how do you know where to tap the tree? - [scott] usually when you tap a tree for the first time, you want to be about two feet from the ground. - [natalie] okay. - [scott] but this tree's been tapped previously, so you look for an old tap hole. - [natalie] mm-hmm. - [scott] and you move over six and up two, is the general rule of thumb to get away from the old tap hole. - [natalie] interesting. - [scott] the trees will actually heal themselves over within two to three years. and close off that wounded area. so you don't damage a tree. it goes through that little spell of recovery, then it goes right on and keeps living. - [natalie] all right, so what do we do? do we pull out the? - [scott] we have your drill here. - [natalie] drill? - [scott] with the 5/16 drill bit. - [natalie] mm-hmm. do i need to stand back or no? - [scott] find your old tap holes. move over six, up two. drill your hole. go on a side angle

down out of the tree. - [natalie] now how hard is it for sap to come out, like how long would it take since you just did this for the tap to actually start pouring out? - [scott] be a warm one today it will probably be another 10, 15 seconds the hole will start getting wet. - [natalie] are you serious? - [scott] you see it right there. - [natalie] so it's just the weather is the main factor as to how quickly it comes out? - [scott] freeze and thaw cycle. it has to be warm during the day. you take your spile, place it in your tree. you tap it in. real light, then you'll hear it change. and it seats and seals the hole and it won't leak around the spile. then you take your pail, hang the bucket on there. - [scott] then you slide your lid on to prevent rainwater from getting in. or any other thing. - [scott] that's correct. - dropping - [scott] that's correct. a tree will give you, on each rod, and every time it runs roughly one to two gallons of sap. - [natalie] one to but you need a whole lot of gallons - roughly 44 gallons

gallon of syrup. what comes out of the tree is 2% sugar. we process it down to 66-1/2% in the sugar house. - [natalie] so let's go through those numbers again. it takes 44 gallons of sap to make. - [scott] to make one gallon of maple syrup. - [natalie] one gallon of maple syrup. - and this tree, over the season, will give you roughly 10 to 12 gallons of sap. - [natalie] so that's why you need 130 some trees out here. - that's correct. - [natalie] to be tapped, - right? so how long will it take for this to fill up for you then? - [scott] it depends on the weather. if it's gonna be a rainy night tonight this might be 3/4 full by morning. warm sunny day they don't run too well. it might be 1/4 bucket. because they depend on air pressure to run. - so then, what's next after this? - what we do is we go around and gather them to the gathering tank, then it goes to the sugar house to get boiled. - and then you start the full bottling process? - that's correct. it's got to be filtered, yep. - i mean, it sounds so simple, but it's really not. there's a lot of hard work involved in this? - yes, it's a lot of hard work when the weather's not the best. your out here when it's raining,

it no matter what. - [scott] that's correct. - but you do these tours and people can come and they can actually. - [scott] they can collect sap how i did when i was growing up. we do them, they're on, it's the maple madness tours, the second and third weekend of march. for information what to do with our store, our 1820s log cabin, you can go to our website, and get all the information. - [natalie] love it. all right, let's go back and head to that log cabin. that's how you'll be able to figure out where you are when you get to this place here in burton. thanks for showing me around scott. - [scott] well, you're welcome. thanks for coming out. - [natalie] let's go! ready guys? oh look, they're ready already. whoa, whoa. (laughing) (gentle music) (slow music) - [natalie] we couldn't do a show about maple syrup without stopping at this place, right here in chardon, ohio. i'm talking about richard's maple products. it all starts with one of these. and no, you don't

to start putting all your products in here. this is how you start the whole tapping of the maple syrup, isn't that right jen? - that's right. - [natalie] you guys have been doing this since 1910. - 1910. my great grandparents started it the year that they got married. so this is our 105th year, this year. - [natalie] wow, and there are, i mean, just about anything you can make with maple syrup, you guys have it here in the store. - we do. we wanted to be a year round maple gift shop. so we had to stand out. you can get, there's a lot of places you can get maple syrup from, but there's not a lot of places to get all the candy and confections from. - [natalie] so, i mean, you have the popcorn, cashews. - [jen] maple syrup nuts. - [natalie] what's over here? - [jen] maple candy. - [natalie] and is, are my eyes deceiving me? is that jerky down there? - [jen] maple beef jerky. - [natalie] oh wow, that will be heavenly. oh my gosh. okay. so that's just the beginning. you have, over here, an entire section of everything from regular syrup to, i see, pepper? - [jen] yes, maple

maple granulated sugar. that's become pretty popular, of folks that have processed sugar allergies. so, or just choose not to use processed sugar. sugar as an alternative. - my question is, i see all of these here, but why do you have your competitors in your store? well, we're not promoting them, per se. - okay. - we're using it to show how little, or no maple syrup is actually in the store syrups. - [natalie] there's zero in all of those until you get to the hungry jack, and there's only 2%? - [jen] just 2%, yeah. - [natalie] and then you guys have 100%. - [jen] absolutely. it's pure. why mess with perfection? - [natalie] and you know what i think's really interesting too is what i learned about being here is that your syrup has just about as much calcium as milk. - it does, yeah. there's all kinds of minerals and nutrients in pure maple syrup. it's really a health benefit. - i had no idea. - mm-hmm. - it's so sweet, it's so amzing,

but good point to note. okay, what about down here? barbecue sauce. - [jen] yeah, we got a maple barbecue sauce. - [natalie] so when you guys were coming up with these ideas, how do you figure out, okay, well let's try a barbecue sauce? let's try a pepper. you know, what was the whole thought process as you did each different item? - [jen] well, maple's great in everything. it's a great sweetener, and can be substituted for any kind of sugar or sweetener. so we just started experimenting and we get to sample a lot, of course. - now i know that the tapping is this time of year. you guys have this stocked all year round? - [jen] we do. - [natalie] or how does it work? - [jen] we do. we've got bulk amounts of syrup year round although we are running out of last years supply. so we're very eager for the season to get going. - and you have, in a second aisle over here, everything that someone would need if they want to kind of do this on their own too. - [jen] absolutely. yeah, you can start out very small. we've got a lot of families that do just one or two taps. - [natalie] that's really neat. so you, someone can come in here and you'll take them through the process. you'll make sure they have everything

what's this i hear about sap dogs, is that's what they're called? - [jen] yeah, maple sap dogs, yeah. - [natalie] i had no, is it crazy that i don't know what those are? - you will, you'll fall in love. - okay. all right, well i would love to go and see what these are all about. - okay. - okay. (slow music) this over here must be what everybody's been talking about. what are these called again? - [jen] these are the maple sap dogs. - [natalie] sap dogs. - [jen] so for sugar house tree we cook hot dogs in maple sap and serve them in the sugar house. - [natalie] okay, bonnie's gonna put one on a little bun for me here? - [jen] yes, yes. and we've got our maple mustard if you'd like to try that on there. - [natalie] okay, so what makes the dog then? how do you? - [jen] we just boil hot dogs in maple sap. and as they boil and it starts cooking down in the maple syrup, it gives it a sweet flavor. - [natalie] i can't miss this. so i think what i love too is that if someone wants to give some of these great products as a gift, you guys have a whole

that can be shipped to people. - [jen] we do, we ship out world wide, year round. - [natalie] so come. you can ship things out. you can come get a sap dog. - [jen] absolutely. - [natalie] right here on water street in chardon. have to come visit. i'm gonna end with a nice little bite of one of these sap dogs. that's the best hot dog i've ever had. - you'll be hooked. - whoa. thanks jen. - [jen] you're welcome. - i'm going to eat this. - [natalie] coming up after the break we are making maple bacon donuts. you are not going to want to miss this one.

- [natalie] that my friends, is one of the main reasons why we are here in middlefield at maggie's donuts. that is maple frosting, and sara is going to show us - i am. - doesn't that make your mouth just water? more about this place, but first i'm gonna how you actually produce such amazing donuts right here. and it starts with just a plain donut.

out of the fryer. they're still warm. - okay. - [sara] and our maple frosting in this bowl. you just frost it. put it on the tray. and if you want to add the bacon you can go ahead. - [natalie] oh my gosh. now is there a rule as to how much bacon should go on one of these things? - [sara] a lot. (laughing) - [natalie] so there's never probably too much, huh? - [sara] no. - [natalie] is this one of the main big sellers here? - [sara] it is. we sold like one tray in like half an hour today. perfect. - [natalie] i think it's crazy, it's like the middle of the afternoon and you guys are st - [sara] yeah. - [natalie] you're still back here making. you sell to a lot of different places. - [sara] yes we do. - [natalie] not just people coming into the store. all right, let me try to do this myself. is that okay? - yes. - okay, perfect. - [sara] just drop it - [natalie] drop it in, and then? - [sara] scrape off the excess on the side of the bowl. - [natalie] oh my, okay. - [sara] perfect. - that's too much. - [sara] a little bit more. - yeah. there you go. - awesome. look how good this looks. i don't know, do you think i can get a job here? - [sara] i would love

(laughing) - [natalie] i want to talk with bill, the owner here, in a second and we'll see if he'll let me. - [sara] that looks delicious. - [natalie] oh my god. so this is just one. are the rest of these also made with maple? - yes, maple. we have the maple cinnamon rolls. maple cream sticks, which are our most popular donut. - [natalie] maple cream stick, all right. - [sara] we have just your round donut, round glazed donut with sprinkles and nuts. and then we have the tart with the cream on top. and they're wonderful. - how do you have a job here and look like this? - [sara] i don't know, i'm lucky. i eat them every day. (laughs) - you're very lucky. - [sara] right. - i'm gonna steal one. - [sara] oh, please do. - and i'm gonna go over and talk to bill a find out a little bit more about this place and how this all came to be, okay? - all right. - here we go. (slow music) - well i thought i was going to get to eat this donut, but i might have to help bill here with his work. what are you doing? - i'm just running this dough through this

labor with the rolling pin so we don't bust our backs too much. - [natalie] so your forearms aren't too too big, right? - [bill] yeah. we got the popeye forearms. - [natalie] how long have you been doing this? - [bill] i started working for the previous owner when i was 13 years old. - [natalie] are you kidding me? - [bill] sweeping floors, taking garbage out. things like that. - [natalie] and now you run the place. - yeah, i just learned how to do it as i got older, so. - well, i'm guessing you fell in love with the art of making donuts. but i'm sure you really believe in this product and that's why you kind of wanted to continue this. - [bill] we have not changed much in since 1959 the way the original owner, stan pearce, did this. we do things the same way. we have the same frostings, the same fillings. we make our own cream, our own glaze. we make a lot of things ourselves, we don't buy things in the buckets except for, you know, some of our fillings. our own frostings, glaze, and cream which i think makes our donuts special. and we still do things the old fashioned way. - i like that you do things the old fashioned way. i love this little contraption you've got to actually make the donuts. - [bill] yeah, so we're gonna let you go ahead.

do some work here. so grab that - [natalie] i love when people put me to work. - [bill] jelly cutter there. - [natalie] all right. - [bill] come down here. - [natalie] just go? push hard? - [bill] start off on the dough and push down hard all the way through. - [natalie] am i doing okay? - [bill] perfect. - [natalie] now what do you do with the halves? do you eat raw dough? - [bill] these we just roll back up. yeah, we just roll it back up. no, we don't eat raw dough. (laughing) - [natalie] why not? so i would start, how close do you start the next round? - [bill] off the dough and you just continue on. - [natalie] okay, this is way too much fun. - [bill] you feel the muscles already. (laughs) do you feel how these arm muscles? that's way too much fun. you must love doing this, don't you? - well there's days i do, there's days i don't. but depends what hour of the day it is. - now i know the whole idea of talking about the maple and your different products that you use it for. i'm guessing your using a lot of local people for that, which is awesome. - yeah, we try, you know, to buy local when we can. you know, you got a lot of maple places around here. a lot of amish that also sell maple syrup. a lot of local meat places

have, this is just one of four locations. - [bill] we have four locations right now. we have two here in middlefield. we have one in madison - [natalie] all right, so we're on east high street right now. in middlefield. again, just one of four of the many locations you can go to to grab one of these. bill thank you. and cheers to the donuts. - cheers. - oh. (laughs) so good. staying in geuaga county today. we follow the ooey gooey goodness back to cleveland. (gentle music) - [voiceover] we make several different ice creams with maple syrup. anything from maple bacon ice cream which is kind of a classic. you think of donuts with maple bacon and all that kind of stuff. we do chicken and waffles with deep fried chicken skin.

also do a waffle ice cream with maple syrup on top. all sorts of maple ice cream. we do maple syrup all year. obviously we start in april because that's when maple syrup is upon us. but we have a reserve all year long, so we'll do some fun flavors. and we change our flavors weekly so it's just kind of a little pop up. we do a lot of coffee ice cream with the maple ice cream, just we're big on breakfast, so you got to have the glass of coffee along with, you know, your waffles, or your pancakes. we will also do cereal ice cream, so it's really kind of a breakfast combo when we do maple syrup. pretty much anything that we're cooking you can smell. right now we're cooking bacon. we're gonna do, we call it an ohio snow cone. so it's french toast ice cream with bacon chunks on top and then maple syrup and cotton candy on top. we started in, i believe it

from california with my wife, she had a job offer here. and i had been toying with the idea of making ice cream. and so when we moved here to the fine city of cleveland, the opportunity just kind of presented itself. there was a kitchen that just opened up called the cleveland culinary launch. we were the second tenant there and we wouldn't have been able to start if it wasn't for them. we started out doing farmers markets, food truck events, cleveland week, walnut wednesday, you name it, we were out there six days a week. usually two to three events a day. as well as making the ice cream. and then the place that we're in now closed down, actually the summer that we started. and the actual store itself had been an ice cream shop for 60 years. and everybody's like, "oh, you should "take a look at it." we took a look at the space and we kind of met everybody in the community here in ohio city. and really fell in love with it. it's a really small building and it just fit with

here in the community of ohio city. and like i've said, it's been an ice cream shop for 60 years, so we're, you know, we feel that we can actually service the community. we're not just a store popping up in the middle of nowhere, where, you know continuing the tradition here. so we are going to make an ohio snow cone. so we start off with the mix which i already made. we just add a little bit of sugar. and because we're making maple syrup ice cream, we do not have to add anything else, we just put the maple syrup in there. so now we have french toast mix. i put a little bit of cinnamon in there. and then actually steeped bread crumbs in there so you get the nice bready taste. so from here we'll throw that into the ice cream maker. flip the switch, turn the coolant on.

we'll have some ice cream. usually we let this harden up a little bit. a little bit more so it's scoopable. right now you can see it's kind of like soft serve. grab some of this cotton candy that we made. bacon bits. hit it with maple syrup and that's what makes it the snow. - [natalie] after the break, maple sugaring goes high-tech.

- [natalie] whoo, okay. we've shown you the old fashioned way of really making maple syrup. now we're stepping things up a notch here at sugarbush creek in middlefield. jim, i'm standing back from you buddy. i'm letting you back up. - [jim] it's a little warm. - what is this contraption? - [jim] it's an evaporator and that's what takes the water out of the sap. - [natalie] whoa! - we use a lot of wood. - [natalie] oh my. - but the hotter the fire the faster the syrups made, the better the syrup the better the flavor. so it's all about the flavor. - [natalie] i am just nervous to get anywhere near you. okay, that's good to go. so how does this work then? - [jim] it's basically there's a flame under there wood, air blows up. you can probably see

- [natalie] okay. - so the heat goes back underneath. then up there and up the chimney is the smoke. so underneath there there is a pan that has like corrugations. so that's more heat transfer. - [natalie] so how do we get from this to this? and what is this? (laughs) - [jim] this is called the finisher. and this is oil fired. it's a flat pan with seven compartments. because the best syrup is made with the least amount of inter-mixing. - [natalie] okay, so talking about syrup, there's three different grades, so to speak? - [jim] three grades of syrup. light amber. - [natalie] so there's light. - [jim] medium amber, and dark amber. - [natalie] all right. - [jim] and they have three totally different flavors. it's like three different foods. - [natalie] so how are you getting one versus the other? and is it per season you get a lighter more than a, how does it work? - a lot of it is some of it's the wood, some of it's the weather. it's mainly how, if it gets warm, then you have more bacteria, then the syrup will be darker. - [natalie] okay.

not that clean. - [natalie] but i can tell from the looks of this, you're pretty darn clean. - we try to be clean. - this is a science. - it's an art. and a science. - what did it take to do something like this? - i started when i was 13 with 10 trees. so every year it's-- - [natalie] and now you have how many trees? - [jim] i have 2200. - [natalie] 2200 trees. and they're all getting filtered and into your pump house. - [jim] everything comes is on vacuum tubing. - [natalie] okay. - [jim] it goes through our pump station. - [natalie] and then it comes here. - [jim] pumped up here. - [natalie] to the sugar station. or the sugar house. all right, and you can monitor all of this through your little tv that you have over there. - [jim] right. - which also is pretty high-tech and interesting. can you do this or do you need the boys to help you do this? - they're better at it, but-- - [natalie] boys, get over here. we've got the whole family here, kind of. this is a big thing, right? - [jim] it's a family thing. - [natalie] it's a family business. - [jim] you can't do it by yourself. - [natalie] does one of you want to show me how this thing works here? so. - [jim] john, he is the tech guru. - [john] so we're right here. - and we have different

the woods to monitor things like the vacuum that's on the lines which helps pull the sap in. and then we also have things that monitor the level in the tanks. - [natalie] wow. - [john] so we can see what's going on through here. - [natalie] this really is no joke. i mean you guys, this is the real deal. - this lets me sleep at night. because it will alarm if the tanks are getting too high. - so how much do you produce, say, a season? - [jim] we're, we're at 2200 taps. my goal now is to make 2200 gallons of syrup. so a gallon per tap, which people don't think it could be done but we're close. - [natalie] for you, it can be done. - [jim] we'll do it. - [natalie] all right. well you know that after seeing this i've got to go check out that pump house. - [jim] yes. - [natalie] see what it looks like. - [jim] all right. - [natalie] let's go family. so this is all the way down here, the pump house. this is how this all works? - [jim] exactly. this is the spile that we drill in the tree. we cap in january so we don't miss any of the season. and our season comes when we

this year is a little late. but this, you can see, there's sap, basically one drip at a time. - [natalie] you can see it slowly moving through. - [jim] it's slowly moving, and that's what we want it to do. if there's a leak in there it would be moving really fast. - [natalie] this looks like an obstacle course out here. - [jim] it is, for the deer. - [natalie] so this all heads down to the pump house? - [jim] it's all pitched by gravity to the pump house assisted by a vacuum. - [natalie] so all of those tubes lead right into there. - [jim] yeah, that's called a vacuum extractor and that lets the sap come in and then turns the pump on. we pump out through ultraviolet lights, kill the bacteria, and then any one of our three tanks. - [natalie] wow. - [jim] and each tank is 1500 gallons and we can fill them up in one day. - [natalie] in one day. - [jim] a good day. - it's that much sap going on through this place. - a lot. (laughs) - all right, all right. so what is this back here? - [jim] this is sap, but it came in when it was really cold, so everything froze, so it was about a 400

and it's slowly thawing. - so what's. so you gave me this little cup. and it's filled with this now. i want to know, what's it supposed to taste like? - just slightly sweet. like you know it's not water. - okay, you can tell. - but it's not like a pop, or anything. - so what's. - it's only 2% sugar. - 2% sugar. you can taste the sweetness in it but it isn't that much. - [jim] no, it's not that sweet. so it's actually coming through now? - [jim] that's from the extractor. it turns on and off and it pumps about 15 gallons a time. - [natalie] how long will it stay in here? - [jim] not long. we want to process it as fast as possible. so when it's running we'll usually run in the day, we'll process that night. - [natalie] and then how does it get up there? - we pump it up there. it goes through a filter then pumps to the sugar house. - it's so interesting. it's so neat to see how times have changed. see what you can do in order to extract maple syrup from trees. i am blown away. this is such an exciting process. it's so neat. i think you have to come out and see this for yourself. sugarbush creek farms. come say hello to the entire family.

by the young ones, this place is gonna be around for generations to come. - [natalie] coming up next, we're heading to a local high school that serves up thousands of pancakes every weekend. (gentle music) as a workshop and a garage and i love it! announcer: and now you can get the steel building you' ve always wanted and save big. for a limited time future steel the world' s leader in steel buildings is selling off selected models at rock bottom prices. save $2,000, $5,000, $8,000 and up to $ 50% off on selected models during this limited time inventory sell off. future steele buildings

workshops and garages. they' re easy to assemble and just as easy to customize for a fantastic finish inside and out. and if you act now, you can get a future steel building and save big during their inventory sell off. simply call the number on your screen for a free brochure and a list of sell-off sizes and prices. but don' t delay. all buildings are sold on a first come, first served basis and no reasonable offer is refused! you' ll love your new

- [voiceover] hi, how

- [voiceover] i'm with them. - [voiceover] okay, perfect. in burton, ohio. which we also like to call pancake town usa. well, we're having our we do them every sunday in march, except when there's easter. and we've been doing this is burton middlefield rotary. we're a service organization. we have 46 members. but it takes a lot more than 46 members to be able to do this, so we have members from each (mumbling) that help us out of middlefield. we have interact students, which is a rotary group for high school students here at brookshire. and then also students at the community service of (mumbling) all in all we probably have us 100 people here helping today. we should, a normal sunday, we'll do an average of somewhere between 15 and 1600. today the way it's going we could be up to 1800. we can seat, we seat well over 300 at a time, so we can turn the dining room over several times.

very well for us. usually you don't have to wait very long if you come. buttermilk pancakes, all you can eat. we have sausage. they get some juice, and coffee. we have three different styles of omelets. we do a western, we do a ham and cheese, and we do a vegetarian. the batter recipe is so secret that i don't even know what it is. (laughs) we have two individuals that know what it is. we will use about 150 gallons of maple syrup every year. you can buy syrup here. we have it so we sell it at our store. so you can buy it in the gallon, the half gallon, the pints, or the quarts. we do look forward to this because i think, especially this year, with the winter that we had. we know that when we're done we start pancakes, it will still be a little rough. but it will be pretty nice by the time we end. and we do enjoy it. it's the comradery we have amongst ourselves, but also the other community members that come on and help us. so you can come out to burton and be sure you're gonna get a pancake breakfast.

real geuaga county syrup. (gentle music) - [natalie] it's time to sit back and relax just a bit. right now though we are at the center of maple madness, so to speak. we are here at the red maple inn. and tonya, really this is the place where people can come and stay for the night because there really is so much to do they're probably going to want to spend a couple of days. - that's right, exactly. we have so much to do this time of year, anytime of year, but right now it's maple season, and there's lots to see and do. - now you're really at the center of everything. your location is probably prime and key? - it really is. we're right here, we're 45 minutes east of cleveland. and about 30 minutes west of youngstown. - [natalie] and, with that being said, you guys have some pretty high ratings triple a. - [tonya] we do, four stars, four diamonds, - [natalie] four diamond rating. - [tonya] for 12 years now. - [natalie] wow.

it's small, it gives you that really cozy feeling. - [tonya] it does. we're 18 rooms all together. and all of our rooms have either a king or a queen sized bed. and they all have whirlpool jacuuzi bathtub in the bathroom. - [natalie] and you really, you have that connection with the whole maple side of things here. - [tonya] we do. - [natalie] you bring it in to your breakfast. - [tonya] we do maple syrup all the time. we also sell burton log cabins maple syrup here, as well, in the gift shop. - in addition to all of the things we have here to do at the red maple inn and in burton, we also celebrate the maple syrup season by having an open house the last sunday in march. the inn will be open for an open house. you can come in and see how beautiful it is, and what a great getaway it is. and we, the ladies from quintealia's tea parlor bring in our maple pecan scones, and some samples of our organic teas. and you can sample those. and we think that it's a really lovely pairing, and you can come in and get some really nice deals about staying at the inn and coming down to have victorian tea.

seeing people, i'm sure, come in year after year and experience the whole maple tour process. it's probably something a lot of people wouldn't necessarily know about, but should get involved in. - [tonya] right. you can go to the cabin and you can actually tap trees in february. and they'll put your name on the trees and you can pull sap from it, as well. and then you can watch on sundays you can watch them boil the sap down and make the syrup for you. - [natalie] and i just love when you're looking around here, the views you see from the windows, it's just stunning. - [tonya] it is stunning. it is very stunning. it's the geuaga valley, and it's a beautiful view, even in the winter with the snow hanging in the trees. or in the fall in october. we also have the maple madness tour in the area this time of year. so there's lots to see and do. - i love it. it's really, again, in the center of everything. so you know that when you're coming here you're going to have a great place to stay, if you want to. - that's right. - and enjoy it. enjoy the nice fireplace too in the winter. - [tonya] that's right. - [natalie] it feels so good

- [tonya] yes it does. it really does, it's beautiful. - tonya, thank you so much. - you're welcome. - [natalie] maple syrup with alcohol? we head back to a local cleveland brewery to show you how it's done.

- [natalie] well, we're

so you might ask why are we here at portside distillery and brewery. well, dan creates some really cool drinks here that also include maple syrup. right? - yes we do. we have a vanilla maple rum that we use maple syrup from oberlam farms in geuaga county. and then we also use our maple syrup in our imperial maple stout that we release about once a year. - [natalie] oh, okay. so this is probably a hot commodity when you're releasing this once a year. - yes, once a year. it's very small batches. it'll go within a week. - [natalie] really? - yes. - [natalie] is that in the spring time then, right around this time? - yes. right around the spring time. - [natalie] so i know that you just recently opened up as an eatery where someone can get small plates. but you've been in business for quite some time. - yes we have. we're going on four years. we had our grand opening january 15th and we've been brewing for a little bit over two years, and been

two and a half years. - [natalie] this is exciting. i love the space that you have created. so right behind us we have the brewery portion. - [dan] yes, that's the brewery. and over there is the distillery. we're cleveland's first distillery since prohibition, and ohio's only distillery brewery. - [natalie] and it's a really cool spot too because we're right out on front avenue right in the flats, overlooking the lake. so it's a really cool place. especially in the summer time. i'm sure people would come and really enjoy this. - [dan] absolutely, absolutely. we have five different rums that we produce. we have a so rum, a hop infused rum, a spiced rum, a vanilla maple rum. and then in the winter time we have a christmas spirit. - [natalie] so let's talk about these maple drinks that you have again. - [dan] absolutely. - [natalie] let's start with this one. and i know your bartender made these wonderful drinks for us. - [dan] yes. - so do you know what's in these? (laughs) - yes i do. so that's our take your thyme. it has our vanilla maple rum in it. thyme, simple syrup and lemon juice. - that is extremely refreshing. - yes, very proud of that one. - i would take that any time of year, that's that good.

back there that's behind me? - [dan] this is called the what the yolk. - [natalie] what the yolk. - [dan] what the yolk, that also has our vanilla maple rum. it has egg white, and lemon juice. - okay, so this is the egg whites there that's what's frothing up here, okay. and that one tastes like egg yolk in it. that is really good. is there lemon, you said in there? - [dan] yes. - oooh. (mumbling) out. - [natalie] i really like that. get that when you come for sure, that's amazing. - [dan] yeah, we're all about our mixology here. - [natalie] and when it comes to the stouts, again, i know you mentioned this, this is the. - [dan] imperial maple stout. now at portside we have 14 beers on tap at all times. and this one. - [natalie] i'm taking this home with me. (laughing) this is my favorite. i'm a sucker for it, i like beers. - [dan] once a year. so this one's about 11.9% alcohol. it's an imperial stout, very strong, very robust, but it has that sweetness from the maple syrup, also. - [natalie] so what was the whole idea with wanting to put

here in your brewery? - well, it's a local product. we get it from geuaga county. and we try to use as much as we can that's local. - [natalie] i love the small plate idea too, and there are some people here that are eating what looks to be delicious small plates. you have a variety, though. - [dan] yes we do. yeah, we have quite a few varieties, and it changes throughout the year. - [natalie] beet salad, deviled eggs, assorted cheese boards. pretty soon before we know it we're going to have maple in some of those dishes. - i'm sure we will. - [natalie] but i think we're going to promote this, right, this is going to happen. - absolutely, absolutely. once the maple hits in the spring. - [natalie] well cheers to you. thanks for having me here today. - cheers, absolutely. - i love this place. come check it out, front avenue, right in the flats, portside brewery and distillery. i think i'll be back. - toast. - cheers. (upbeat music) (slow music) - i'm changing things

we've been talking about maple syrup and how it's tapped this time of year. well, if you want something that can be made all year long, you've got to try some of this goodness right here, frank's shagbark hickory syrup, made by this guy. frank. and frank, how did you get into doing this? - oh, about four years ago my friend read a thing in parade magazine about the only guy in the world who made it. and she says, "well your a smart guy. "how come you never figured "something like this out?" so after a lot of trial and error and that's what came up. and just started selling it. - so hickrory syrup, what's the shagbark? - [frank] it's made by the shagbark hickory tree, that's the only hickory you can make it from. - [natalie] so how is it different than maple syrup? - [frank] maple gets made from the sap. i make it from making the bark and making the extract, because at about almost 140 to one, it'll be economically feasible, and that little bottle would

- whoa. - a guy in alaska makes birch for 100 to one and he gets $100 a pint. - wow. so you're trying to make it a little bit more reasonable for people to enjoy. - that's right, economically feasible in a way you can make it. - so it starts with the bark then. - [frank] yeah, that's the bark right off the tree before it's processed. - [natalie] okay, this is the bark straight from the tree. - [frank] yeah. - [natalie] right before it's processed. then how? - [frank] then i - [natalie] does it turn? - [frank] then i take it in pails of water and soften, and other stuff, put it in the thing and it pumps from anywhere for six to 12 hours. to make the extract. and it takes about, you know, nine to 10 gallons, it goes by nine or 10 gallons of water to make a gallon of extract. - so you judge. - and i turn the extract into syrup. - [natalie] okay. now you're judging this based on color alone. - [frank] yeah. - [natalie] that's how you determine if it's made properly, or not. - [frank] yep. - [natalie] that's a so this is what the bark looks like when it's all done? - [frank] yeah. just dispose of that, or what do you do with the bark? - [frank] yeah, i or people want it because they put it in for smoking their meats and stuff. so i just give it to them.

taste difference compared to a maple syrup? can you, do you have some right there? can i try it? indescribably good. okay, well okay. so i guess i just have to taste it and see for myself. - [frank] yep. when i'm at farmers markets and craft shows i never let anybody buy it without tasting it because i want them to be satisfied with what they got. - [natalie] mmm. - [frank] there's no smell to it. - i was just going to say. - [frank] when i was at the food show. - i can't smell it. it's weird. - he was telling everybody you got to tell us what it smells like before you can taste it. i would tell them to stop that. - that is. uh oh maple syrup, watch out. (laughs) whoa! that is so sweet. - [frank] i sell the maple. - you're right, i don't know how to explain it. - yeah. - what did you bring all of this stuff why do we have this? - i have about 30 pages of recipes, right. - [natalie] that's amazing. - [frank] thanks. - [natalie] so do you mix it in with these types of things? - [frank] yeah.

then covers them up. - [natalie] and changes them, okay. - [frank] yeah. - [natalie] all right. so you put a little bit in. do you do this with a lot of the food that you eat? - [frank] oh yeah. - [natalie] do you mix it with everything? - [frank] i mix it with barbecue sauce, baked beans, apple pie. - [natalie] uh oh. this is herb's favorite kind of drink right here. mixing the tea and lemonade. you mixed it in, okay. do i have to. - [frank] i already stirred it. - oh, you already did. okay. he's on the ball. that is incredible. (laughs) because it tastes like it should taste, it doesn't act like there's anything else in there. right, it's just is enhancing what's already there. you got to get your hands on some of this stuff. let me tell you. - [frank] i'm always looking for stores to put it in, but mostly it's always by me. or you can order it from me directly. - [natalie] there you have it. frank, thank you so much. you've turned me on to something new now. i love it. - [frank] okay, i appreciate it. - [natalie] when we come back i attempt to make maple candy. we're heading back to burton.

- [natalie] amy's already

she's placed something in my hand. i'm guessing it's maple syrup, but i don't know. is that what this is? it's maple syrup, yes. but we've reduced it down to 240 degrees fahrenheit, so it's much thicker than maple syrup. maple syrups made at 219 degrees. what you're making is a maple stirrer. - maple stirrer, okay. - so you want to start stirring it. - okay. - and what you will be making is cream candy. behind us right here is paul, and he is doing a larger version of the very same thing. - [natalie] oh, well that's a much bigger spoon than mine there! look at that. so, it's just the same thing. - [amy] it's the same exact thing. we've heated that syrup up, condensed it down, and now you're gonna stir it it's gonna make cream candy which is very smooth creamy candy with nothing but maple syrup in it. - [natalie] oh, now is that what's in these little? - [amy] that candy is maple sugar candy. - [natalie] oh, okay. - [amy] and that, you can use that

and you pour it into molds after you've stirred it. and you can make the maple sugar candy. - so what else do you make here? what do you have here, what is this? - [amy] this is the maple sugar candy. - [natalie] okay. - [amy] so we've taken that syrup and turn this beater on. and in about five minutes we will have it at because it will start to crystallize and cool. it into this funnel and we'll pour it into our mold. and in about a half hour that candy will be set up enough to pop out of those rubber molds. - i think one of the coolest things, and correct me if i'm wrong, that i heard about this place, is that you get the maple syrup from the trees right around here. - yes. this year we put in about 2000 taps. and we use the park here, the village park. we use the township park, and there's (mumbling) lets us tap from their woods. and there's another private farm. so we put out about 2000 taps a year. - so what all do you make? i see some gallons behind us of the syrup. what all do you make here?

that we made this year. we can, anywhere from the smallest size which is what we call a runt, all the way up until a gallon. we do have medium amber color and a dark amber color. and i don't know if you'd like to try a sample of each of those. - [natalie] do you know, well, is this something i can sample? - yes, keep stirring! - [natalie] i have to keep stirring. - you gave up! - [natalie] that's why i'm excited about all of this though. i mean, it's so amazing. and i see like you have the little sticks up front, so if people want just a little taste of it. you have maple sticks. - straws, yes. - the straws. so there's so many different things you can come here and purchase. take home with you. - mm-hmm. - and different times of year obviously very exciting things that go on here as well. (upbeat music) - [natalie] oh my gosh, are we sliding?

well there you have it. so many scrumptious things were made from maple syrup. so we learned a few one, that if you want some good maple syrup you got to come to northeast ohio. two, it's got just about as much calcium as whole milk. and three, you need these guys to be your new best friends when you're going out and tapping for that maple goodness. i'm natalie herbick, and i'll see you

as a workshop and a garage and i love it! announcer: and now you can get the steel building you' ve always wanted and save big. for a limited time future steel the world' s leader in steel buildings is selling off selected models

save $2,000, $5,000, $8,000 and up to $ 50% off on selected models during this limited time inventory sell off. future steele buildings are perfect for sheds, workshops and garages. they' re easy to assemble and just as easy to customize for a fantastic finish inside and out. and if you act now, you can get a future steel building and save big during their inventory sell off. simply call the number on your screen for a free brochure and a list of sell-off sizes and prices. but don' t delay. all buildings are sold on a first come, first served basis and no reasonable offer is refused! you'