With sugar making season in the rear view, we are eagerly looking forward to our syrup release party at Molley Chomper on Saturday, March 25th at noon! We hope to see you there! This is our second year hosting this event at Molley Chomper, and we have a lot of fun things in store for you.
Our entire inventory of 2023 syrup will be on hand for purchase, and we will be offering syrup tastings. During the making process, we date each case on the day it was produced so that we can track the progression of the season in each bottle. Early syrup is light in color and has a delicate, almost floral flavor. Mid season syrup is amber and has notes of caramel and marshmallow. Late season syrup is dark and deep-red in color, and has notes of brown sugar and molasses. This year we will be set-up for you to taste our syrup and note these delightful differences.
Molley Chomper makes a seasonal cider each year with our syrup which will be available at the event. Just this week they bottled last years batch of “Waterfall Farm Maple” cider. It is a blend of late-season apples including York, Stayman Winesap, and Rome. Post-fermentation, they rack the cider in oak barrels and top them weekly over three months with our syrup. The gentle secondary fermentation transforms the maple syrup, yielding a rich, sub-acid and nearly dry cider with notes of oak, vanilla, and baked apple. You can drink it right away, or it will age well if saved for a cold winter night. They will also have pours, flights and bottles of their other dazzling ciders to sample.
During the syrup release party, Doug will give an author’s talk on his book, The Trees of Ashe County. He will also give a lesson on backyard sugaring for any budding sugarers interested in tapping trees in their own backyard. For those interested, his books will be available for purchase at the event.
If you haven’t already been to Lansing, get ready to fall in love. It’s a cute little brick town built in the era of the Virginia Creeper Railway. At Old Orchard Creek General Store you will find coffee, pastries, books and friends. Next door, you can get tasty take-out pizza and salads at Pie On The Mountain to bring over to Molley Chomper and eat while you sample ciders. Also, the Lansing Creeper Trail Park has walking paths and trails, a half dozen swimming holes (extra point for the polar plungers in the group!) and a dog park. There are also some cute shops to check out on the main street. So whether you’re local, or thinking of coming from out of town, come see us and make a day of it!
Syrup will be available on a first come, first served basis. Our syrup comes in 8 oz bottles for $15/each, and case of twelve bottles is $180. We will take cash, checks, and cards. Checks payable to Waterfall Farm.
Should we end up with some crude weather on the 25th, we have a rain date for the following Saturday, April 1st. We’ll be sure to let you know of any changes in our newsletter.