The sugar content of pure birch sap is only 1 per cent on average. Birch syrups are made by concentrating birch sap, evaporating much of its water content. The birch syrup received in this way only contains natural sugars, primarily glucose and fructose. It is thanks to the recent innovative technology (produced mainly in North America again) that it is possible efficiently to concentrate birch sap and produce tasty natural birch syrup in an economic manner and with consistent high quality.
The global annual maple syrup production is presently about 30 million litres, most of it made in Canada. The sugar content of pure maple sap is around 2 per cent. There is a centuries long tradition in North America to make maple syrup by evaporating water from the maple sap. Differently from birch syrup, the main sugar in pure maple sap (and maple syrup) is sucrose.
The technology for producing maple and birch syrups is in constant development and there are a lot of different options. In North America evaporation machinery is often built following the wishes of particular syrup makers. For example, one can choose an evaporator fired either by wood, gas, oil, or even eletricity. It is also possible to use a reverse osmosis machine to remove most of the water from the sap before the heat treatment.
Kasekunst is the official European representative of Leader Evaporator Inc., the largest and one of the most innovative producers of cutting edge maple and birch sap collection equipment and syrup making technology in the United States. If you are interested in making maple or birch syrup we are very happy to offer consultation and share our own experience.