That's a Wrap: Pulling Taps!
April 24, 2026
And that is it for the 2026 season. Though we are still getting a little sap in, the quality and quantity are not enough to boil. Overall, it was not a record-breaking crop for us, but it was pretty good and we are grateful. Now the woods crew begins the process of removing all 111,000 taps from the Cambridge and Bolton sugarbushes. A big shout-out goes to the woods and boil crews for all of their hard work over the past 4 months.
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Sugaring Season: April Update #3
April 17, 2026
Things are winding down at the sugarhouse, but the sap is still coming in. Given our sugarbush is on the highest mountain in the state, trees at the top of the network (around 2,000’, though Mansfield goes up to 4,000’) are still running.
The sugar content is pretty good for this time of year – about 1.5%, but the syrup has morphed into what we call commercial grade. Many sugarmakers stop boiling when it reaches this stage because the syrup has flavors that can best be described as “interesting”. It still tastes like maple but there are also more earthy, sour notes. This syrup is not for sale to the public but can be sold to other companies for items like tobacco or a salad dressing so we usually continue to boil until the trees stop running, which should be very soon.
Generally, we hold back some of the pure water created by the reverse osmosis process, in order to use it for cleaning the evaporator and equipment. But one 6,500 gallon-tank is enough and we need the other tanks for storing sap. Given we are nearing the end of the season, we will be doing a bigger clean out so we have increased the amount of pure water to three tanks. They make for beautiful, inviting, blue pools but that water is cooooold.
It is a pleasure to be outside at this time of year and witness the woods coming back to life. Not only is the green returning to the Green Mountain State but so are flocks of birds. Fungi is popping up, ramps (wild leeks) are rampant, and the first rhubarb is showing its garnet color. We even had a moose tromp through the farm on a foggy evening before dusk.
Not all in this world is certain or calm right now, but we are grateful for reassuring signs of spring.
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Sugaring Season: April Update #2
April 10, 2026
Warm. Cold. Wind. Rain. Sun. Snow (again). Yup, it’s April in Vermont.
Last week we had an epic sap run, interrupted by a nasty wind storm, followed by a rainy Easter, capped off with 15 degrees and snow. Through it all, our boil crew kept at it. The wind caused some damage in the woods, resulting in lower vacuum, but the woods crew has been up the mountain rooting out the leaks. We can’t remember a single season since we started in 2009 when there wasn’t a damaging meteorological event, so a mid-season calamity is now just expected.
This week, there were a couple of good freezes which recharged the trees, and we expect we will be approaching our final run next week.
At the moment, the quality of the sap remains good and the flavor of the syrup is still sublime. When the temperature rises and stays warm, however, we may begin to see the sap flow decline. Even if we are still getting sap, consistent heat is not conducive to good quality syrup.
When it is warm enough that the trees start to leaf out, the flavor of the syrup becomes very earthy - a term known as "buddy", referring to the new buds emerging on the trees. It has an interesting flavor, but nothing you would want to put on your pancakes. This is why sugarmakers always take samples from each barrel and keep them “on file”; we know exactly which barrels we want for Sugarmaker’s Cut and, more importantly, which do not make the cut.
(A syrup sample fresh off the evaporator. Each barrel we produce has a corresponding sample jar set aside for grading and cataloging.)
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Sugaring Season: April Update #1
April 03, 2026
Things froze up over the weekend and it is now in the forties, which means… sap is gushing in. We are seeing a remarkable 7,000 gallons/hour from the trees in Cambridge and proportionate amounts being trucked up from the sugarbush in Bolton. All told, the crew is boiling the equivalent of 10,000 - 11,000 gph worth of sap at the sugarhouse. Since it continues to pour in, there’s a day shift and a night shift because sap does not keep well, so we will continue to boil around the clock until it slows or stops.
We are currently at about 40% of our crop which is not a bad position to be in.
Folks keep asking what our year looks like and the answer is always the same, "we won't know until it's over."
We could make predictions, but if the forecast shifts just a few degrees in either direction, it will be totally different. Right now, the sap has good sugar content (about 2.1%) and the syrup flavor is excellent. There is definitely some of our signature Sugarmaker’s Cut being produced this week and it is exquisite.
(Barrels of finished syrup are stacking up at the sugarhouse! Some will undoubtedly end up in our New Flavor Contest winner when it comes out this fall.)
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Vermont Maple Open House Weekend: Church Street Marketplace Maple Madness
March 22, 2026
This year, the Church Street Marketplace and Runamok Maple returned for our second-annual Maple Madness, a one-day maple wonderland in downtown Burlington as part of Vermont’s Maple Open House Weekend.
We celebrated Vermont's sugaring tradition with thousands of visitors in the heart of Burlington, Vt on Church Street Marketplace.
Here's all that we did:
- We gave out 1,000+ Bingo Boards and nearly 800 prizes
- Tasted 20 @runamokmaple flavors at local marketplace businesses
- Tested our aim with @burlyaxe
- Watched a live boil with @vermontevaporatorcompany
- Took some photos at @photoboothplanetnorth's airstream photo booth
- Had delicious @kingarthurbaking pancakes made by BHS National Honors Society students with @kissthecookvt supplies
- Checked out Kevin Kelley's woodturning demonstration
- Grooved to @emaloumusic, @welcometosunbeam, and @theleatherboundbooks
- Learned about maple with the oldest maple research center in the world @uvm_cals
- Made pins, entered a raffle, and learned about @vermontpublic
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Took advantage of all the maple deals and specials Marketplace businesses had to offer
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Sugarbush Update: A Mid-Season Equipment Replacement
March 19, 2026
"This week we replaced our tired, old reverse osmosis machine with a shiny new one (thank you, CDL USA).
WHY are we doing this mid-season?
There isn't a way to test if your RO is up to the task until you actually have sap coming in, which we most definitely did these past few weeks, and it most definitely was not. This should bring the panic factor down to mid-level during the next big sap run. Bring it on."
And a bonus pic of our Tuesday night boil crew wrapping up a big run 🍁
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Sugarbush Update: Reaching Flow State
March 10, 2026
"It’s coming in fast (4,500 g/hr), the reverse osmosis is getting finicky, and we are about to run out of storage. People always ask why we named the company Runamok…" – video here
March 8, 2026
"It’s a rager. 3 tanks (6,500 gallons of sap each) are already full with a fourth filling at 3,000g/hr. We have a lot of boiling ahead of us." – video here
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Sugarbush Update: The Season has Begun!
March 4, 2026
The sap is finally coming in and the season is officially underway. We did our first real boil of the season (video here). Kudos to the woods crew who just wrapped up tapping last week. We are at the start of a nice long stretch of good sugaring weather. Here’s wishing all the Sugarmakers a good season.
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Sugarbush Update: Fully Tapped and Waiting
February 27, 2026
"Funny to say, but it is unusually seasonable weather we are having this year. The past few seasons were spent battling early sap runs, mid-winter thaws, and uncertainty about changing weather patterns making the sugaring season even more unpredictable than normal.
This season is the earliest we've ever started tapping. We wanted to be prepared for whatever mother nature had to throw at us. Turns out, it's a bunch of snow and a very classic Vermont winter.
The crew has spent the past two months tapping trees and digging sap lines out from under endless piles of snow. We just wrapped up install last week with 65,000 trees tapped in Cambridge and another 46,000 at our Bolton sugarbush.
Now, we wait for the first signs of spring to start trickling into the sugarhouse..."
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Sugarbush Update: Snowed In and Frozen Solid
February 24, 2026
"The team has been digging sap lines out from under deep snow in Bolton and the hills are alive with the sound of... the Bee Gees (sound on 🔊) . Disco never dies."
February 10, 2026
"Our woods crew is reporting deep snow in the upper systems. Our 6'+ crew member Chris is really up to his eyeballs out there... (let us know when you see it!)"
February 8, 2026
"We are experiencing a real winter this year: real cold (-14°) and a whole lotta snow. Our woods crew is out in it almost every day. The conditions are rugged, but they also get views like this from the top of Bone Mountain, near Bolton, Vermont."
January 29, 2026
"We are at roughly 70k tapped (2/3 done). The remaining trees are way up top of the sugar bush, with 2’ + of snow to wade through and a slick of ice underneath. Given it’s going to be-9 tonight, we’re not expecting a run anytime soon."
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Sugarbush Update: First Early Sap Run
January 14, 2026
"It’s 44 and raining; weather only a Sugarmaker could love. We are only halfway tapped but this sap is most welcome. Cheers to the start of the 2026 season." – video here
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Sugarbush Update: New Year Status Report
January 7, 2026
"The woods crew is out every day tapping trees and making good progress – we are up to 38,000 taps installed as of yesterday. We may see some temperatures above freezing this weekend."
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Sugarbush Update: Tapping In 2026 Season
December 12, 2025
"We interrupt your holiday shopping with a sugaring update!
For the second year in a row, we're kicking off our maple sugaring season in December. The crew started tapping trees Dec 01, and have gotten around 18,000 taps installed the past two weeks. These photos are from Monday (12/8) and it has been a snow globe here ever since. Will that be our last sunny day of the year? Only time will tell...
Drop your maple questions in the comments and let us know what you'd like to see this sugaring season – then follow along and we'll be catching you up on all the excitement in the sugarbush this new year." – gallery here
