It’s time of the year for maple! I consider myself a maple syrup connoisseur. My love for maple started as a kid living on the border of New York/Pennsylvania. I would hop over to Pennsylvania to this tree farm that would sell maple flavored cotton candy. When I moved to New England, I noticed that many states do a maple weekend so naturally I had to go see what a maple weekend was like!

Last year, I visited East Hampton and Hebron. It also colluded with the annual Hebron Maple Festival so there were even more activities to do. While I didn’t get to see what the festival offered because I wanted to focus on touring the open houses of several sugar houses.

If you plan to go to that area, I recommend this list (in order):

RICK’S SUGAR SHACK 69 COLLIE BROOK RD EAST HAMPTON, CT

I’m so glad that this was the first stop because Rick, the owner was VERY informative! I never seen the process of a sugar house so Rick really explained the process, showed a lot and was willing to answer questions. There was a small store offering maple syrup, maple flavored cookies and brownies, maple candy and more. Don’t miss the tasting room where you can sample the products before purchasing them!

WENZEL SUGAR HOUSE 522 EAST ST HEBRON, CT

The sugar house was similar to Rick’s Sugar Shack, but instead of collecting the sap in bags they used tubing system. I learned more about that process. This location was known for their maple pudding cake too, it looked delicious (but I couldn’t enjoy it because of my allergies unfortunately!). They also offer maple syrup for purchase.

WOODY ACRES 80 CONE ST HEBRON, CT

Here, I learned more about the amount of sap needed to collect to make one small tin of maple syrup. It is fascinating how much goes in a pint! Maple syrup and maple candy are also available to buy here.

WINDING BROOK 254 SKINNER LANE HEBRON, CT

The biggest sugar house, with a bigger machine to produce 300 gallon of maple syrup (other sugar houses produced 60 gallon). The machine used oil to operate, while the other machines I saw used wood stove. I learned more about the differences of the machines. Maple syrup was available for purchase, and you could taste them beforehand.

MORE SUGAR HOUSES IN THE AREA:

BRIGHT ACRES FARM 46 OLD KINGS HIGHWAY EAST HAMPTON, CT
BUELL’S DRAGONFLY FARM 105 OLD GRIFFIN HIGHWAY EAST HAMPTON, CT
GOSHEN HILL MAPLE 1040 GOSHEN HILL RD EXT LEBANON, CT

There were a few more sugar houses I planned to go, but time ran out for me. I plan to return and visit them as well see more of the Hebron Maple Festival! It’s a fun weekend to celebrate our local farmers and the hard work they put in to providing us delicious maple syrup!