Barb Drewry-Zimmerman, farm manager of Drewry Farms, comes from a long line of maple product producers. In 1847, ancestors of the Drewry family left their farm in Vermont and settled in Wisconsin, where they continued their maple syrup making. Today, Drewry-Zimmerman and her siblings, her children, her nieces and nephews are all involved with carrying on past generations of maple sugaring at Drewry Farms Maple Products, W5762 Winooski Road, Plymouth.
For years, maple sugar farmers had typically harvested sap for personal use or to exchange or sell with other nearby farmers. Drewry-Zimmerman says her generation has taken it to the commercial level because she’s observed a renewed interest in local and artisan foods. “I saw the trend coming 10 years ago, so I thought we needed to take it to the next level,” she explains. “We got away from buckets and implemented new technology, and we’ve extended pipelines. We did it gradually over a four-year period. Modernizing gave us the ability to expand without taking on a lot of debt.”
The Drewry family has 120 acres of sustainably managed hardwood trees, of which they tap nearly 100 acres. They start the process in fall by walking along every tubing line and checking for damage. They replace all the spiles, the spout-like piece that goes into the tree. By the end of December, the process is usually complete, and in February, they’re ready to start tapping the trees. Tapping all the trees takes approximately two weeks. The sap is collected via vacuum systems and put into tanks at four different locations in the woods. Everything then gets hauled to the syrup house for processing.
Drewry Farms offers three varieties of maple syrup: amber, dark and very dark. They’re available in assorted size bottles, gift boxes, or in decorative bottles shaped like a maple leaf. “Customers like a choice of colors,” Drewry-Zimmerman observes. “I personally can’t tell any difference in flavor, but some people can.” She notes that darker syrup seems to hold flavor better when using it for cooking or baking. In addition to maple syrup, they also offer maple granola or maple caramel corn made by Julie’s Country Confections, which operates out of Campbellsport, Wis.
Few things taste better on a chilly weekend morning than a stack of hot pancakes with pure maple syrup (and not that artificially flavored corn syrup that’s mass-produced, found on major supermarket shelves!) drizzling down the sides. But maple syrup has many other uses. “You can use it in anything you’d use white or brown sugar in and replace with real maple syrup,” Drewry-Zimmerman says. She suggests replacing sugar with maple syrup when making homemade cranberry sauce or basting the Thanksgiving turkey with an apple cider and maple syrup mixture; that recipe and others are on their website, drewryfarmsmaple.com. Other artisan food companies also use pure maple syrup in their mustard, ketchup and sauces.
Drewry-Zimmerman believes that pure maple syrup could be the next superfood because ongoing research, which still has to be proven, shows maple syrup contains vitamins, minerals like zinc and potassium, as well as antioxidants. Drewry Farms Maple Products can be found in Milwaukee at the South Shore and Fox Point farmers markets, Outpost Natural Foods, Glorioso’s Italian Market or ordered online. The farm also hosts a popular annual open house the last Saturday of every March, offering tours and wagon rides.
