Real maple...like other posters, it's used for cooking. I cannot remember the last time we had waffles or pancakes. I do make French toast for Christmas morning and we use maple syrup on that.

I always buy Maple syrup if having company. In past years I used to tap 7 or 8 trees just for fun. I only made about a pint of syrup with that amount of trees and it didn't last long! :)

I was raised on pancake syrup. Never even tasted the"real" thing until I was in my 30's. Tasted watered down to me since I was used to good old Aunt Jemima.

I am getting interested in sorghum after reading this thread. Will be looking for it to try. Thanks people!

Mrs. Butterworth's. Have never had real maple syrup. Always have molasses in the pantry for gingerbread in the fall.

Always real maple syrup and for the times I run out I have Lyles Golden Syrup which is a product from the UK and is made with cane sugar

Only real maple syrup for us. I have to admit that the best pure maple syrup I've tasted was from OH, not one of the usual suspects.

I used to only buy grade B as it has so much more flavor than Grade A, but now I see they have changed the classification system so I don't see the words Grade B any more.

I don't eat pancakes - just french toast with a ton of fresh fruit and a bit of ice cream syrup (caramel or strawberry), or if I don't have it, I'll make a glaze of cream and sugar.

I was never a fan of maple flavor.

I miss sorghum syrup! Loved it w/ biscuits. Haven't seen it around for many years now, but I can still recall what it tasted like. We used to find it in the grocery stores here, but no more.

Real maple always - & mine is in the fridge as well.

Only real maple - ours is in the fridge also

Sorghum has a unique taste. I only remember it with biscuits cause of my dad and his love for it. So different from molasses. Here in AL you don't find it in the grocery store. At least, here, but you can find molasses.

There's another syrup besides maple? Didn't know!

Real maple syrup in the fridge.

I only use real maple syrup on pancakes and waffles. One big bottle in the fridge, and another unopened big bottle in the pantry for when it's time to switch to a new bottle (and then another new bottle is purchased so there's always a backup). Hubs uses blueberry syrup on his pancakes and waffles.

We have a small mount of maple syrup and I checked tis label; it was only 25% maple syrup, the remainder was cane syrup. We do not keep much syrup as both of us have dietary restrictions.

Label reading is important for "maple syrup products" and honey, just like other things. Really, the honey in your cupboard might be part corn syrup.

Glenda, it seems like I've seen sorghum at local groceries, but I'll have to check. It won't be a locally grown and processed product, probably.

That does it - it's pancakes with real maple syrup for Sunday breakfast!

In my younger years, growing up rather poor in BC, we had what was called Mapleine..which was a maple flavouring added to boiling simple syrup.. runny like real maple syrup, and sweeter too. Mind you, I also grew up drinking Tang instead of orange juice, margarine (oleo) instead of butter too. LOL..but that's besides the point. My stepfather was a fan of the real maple syrup, but it was expensive for our family of 7-9 depending on which family members were living with us.. so we never developed the love for tree sap :) To this day, I still prefer pancake syrup.

My English husband prefers golden/Lyle's or "tree sap"..but his pancakes are far more crepe like than our door stopper, fluffy pancakes. I was horrified at the idea of lemon juice and sugar on his version of Sunday morning pancakes..almost as much as the real maple syrup! Living here in the middle of maple syrup producing Ontario, you'd think I'd adapt.. no thanks! although we do get a very dark maple syrup that's tolerable (ok rather yummy :)) over ice cream, waffles, or bbq'ing salmon. :) I still prefer my No Name boiled sugar LOL.

Real Maple Syrup in the fridge.

Growing up we always had a can of sorghum. I rarely ever have anything to put stuff like that on so I had none of the above. I did however have a bottle of high quality blue agave syrup.

I thought about mentioning sorghum, but don't have any in the pantry. But it's served at several excellent Southern restaurants during brunch, here in the SF Bay Area. It's very good.

The maple syrup gradings changed in 2015. We buy Grade A/Golden (formerly Fancy) or the Grade A/Amber (formerly A/Medium amber).

Explanation on Epicurious re new system:

http://www.epicurious.com/ingredients/grade-b-maple-syrup-buying-guide-article

For those that don't know what sorghum is this is the sorghum plant they look sorta like a corn plant.

https://www.google.com/search?q=sorghum+syrup&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgdii=_&imgrc=_bNyiHiRf9eJfM%3A

We prefer real 100% maple syrup. I grew up in New England so that is what I was raised on. When we moved to Illinois in 1961, my mother bought pancake syrup. We all hated it. My dad started ordering maple syrup from Vermont and having it shipped. We couldn't find it sold locally.

I really want to say maple syrup and I have bought it quite a few times, but I have found that the real stuff has little taste to me. So I prefer Log Cabin.

As usual, I start at the end of a thread. I grew up with sorghum molasses, made from sorghum cane which we grew. Sometimes someone we knew would cook off the juice , which was a delicate process to get it thick enough without getting it too strong.... we like a delicate flavor. We never liked the product which I think we called Luzianne Cane Syrup, which had a strong flavor. I think there was something else added to the Luzianne. We always made molasses cookies and peanut brittle and popcorn balls with the sorghum molasses. (Not to be confused with blackstrap molasses.) I think I need to go Google awhile.

I did not have any in my pantry but I guarantee you that my grandmother and my mother had it in theirs and it was a regular sight on the table. Steen's Louisiana pure cane syrup. A very long history of Steen's in Louisiana. That big yellow can brings back a lot of memories. Like fresh cured and smoked ham baked and Glazed with Steen's.

Omg I can just taste it! This is from Emerils recipe.

I Googled and learned that "sorghum molasses" is a colloquial expression in parts of the south. I think Luzianne was a coffee that had chicory added. And Brer Rabbit was the cane molasses. One year my husband, sister in law and his sister ran away to Lafayette. Had so much fun. Saw the Atchafayala (I can't spell it and neither can Spell check.) Loved the camps that were actually in the water, one was a school bus. Loved Breau Bridge and the restaurant there and the dancing. They were cutting the sugar cane and that was fun to see. One of our best trips.

I think maple syrup is too watery. I prefer many of the traditional (see? I didn't say right/wrong) choices when cooking, but I really dislike natural maple syrup. Purely for consistency reasons. Tastes great if that counts.

I love maple syrup and I usually buy a jug once a year for cooking and breakfasts but it's too expensive for us(5) to use all of the time. When we run out I either make pancake syrup or use something else like jam or cinnamon sugar and butter.

We don't eat pancakes anymore but when I did, Rogers Golden Syrup was always (still is, my grandson loves waffles) in my cupboard. I do occasionally buy real Maple Syrup but because it's so expensive, we didn't eat it often. After that, Aunt Jemima. Yum!

Every Christmas, Dad would buy us each a little box of maple sugar candy, such a delight and incomparable to anything else. Haven't bought any in years and years.

Real maple syrup, because a New Englander friend of my diabetic aunt used to send it to her every year, and she passed it along to me. I don't care for maple syrup, or even burnt sugar syrup on pancakes, but the kids like it. One year I made peach pancake syrup from the juice that collected when I was prepping peaches for the freezer. Oh, my, that I did like!

I do the same thing with blueberries mama. I smash them up, reduce them with a bit of sugar or even maple syrup. That's good stuff. I love peaches, so I'll have to try that one. Especially good on waffles, to me, for some reason.

I need real maple syrup because every Christmas I make Maple Walnut Fudge just like my dad did since before I was born. Sometimes I use black walnuts which changes the flavor.

The cane is grown and sorghum definitely is produced in Al.

Cobb family sorghum mill on Sand Mountain

Maple syrup for us -- usually grade b or c for more flavor. Pancake syrup if there are any kids over -- they drown their pancakes and leave huge puddles of syrup on the plate. What a waste!

I was a youngster in NE Ohio and one of our school field trips was to a local place where we watched as they tapped the maple trees. I found it fascinating.

Neither of those liquid things are in our house. Pancakes or waffles get a bit of margarine and powdered sugar.

Glenda.....yes, sorghum is raised and processed here in Alabama. I live near three huge fields of it. The syrup is processed not too far up the road, but I've never seen the local products in the grocery stores, unfortunately.

I remember seeing all of the maple trees on my walk to school adorned with buckets and dripping taps every early spring. It always fascinated me.

It is grown here as well.

Sorghum is grown in Ohio too; there are some small farm producers of syrup, but I think most sorghum here is grain sorghum (milo). I've never had the syrup.

I have a small bottle of real maple. We also have a bottle of Aunt Jemima's (although I don't remember buying it! Maybe my DD brought it.) I don't use syrup very often -- rarely make pancakes, but I will use it on oatmeal or cream of wheat sometimes. I've been trying to cut down my overall concentrated sugar consumption so I am using it less and less often.

My favorite thing on hot cereal by far is apple cider syrup, usually homemade.

rhizo, glad you and I have the same taste :o)

I was born in NY and my Grandparents were from Vermont and Pennsylvania--so always real MAPLE! Does anyone else have memories of Jack Wax? Grandma would boil maple syrup to the soft ball stage, then drizzle it on fresh snow from the back yard. When it cooled, the syrup was like taffy--we would just roll it up on a fork and take a bite--Yum!

In the past, I preferred the taste of pancake syrup but now that we make our own I prefer maple. We boil it a bit longer for a darker syrup. We also use silver maple instead of sugar maple. We get about 20 litres a season.

Maple syrup only -- and it's actually in the fridge.

Even when I was a kid, i preferred butter on my pancakes, and just wanted two or three tablespoons of syrup for the flavor -- at that point it was Aunt Jemima, usually.

Now, on the rare occasions that I eat pancakes at home, i use maybe one tablespoon -- again for the maple flavor, and just the real stuff. The fake stuff is too much HFCS, and the flavor is... off. Granted, sugar is sugar -- and the real stuff costs money -- but I go through a small bottle about every two years (which is why it's in the fridge), and the most recent bottle was a gift from my GC, whose son in law taps his own maple trees. (Yay New England!)

I'll use maple syrup in recipes that call for brown sugar, sometimes.

(PS, I have a 1-pound bag of organic palm sugar that has lasted three years, and still has stuff in it. Other than honey, which I use about as often as the maple syrup, there are no other addable sweeteners in this house (discounting a small collection of sugar/sucralose packets for guests to sweeten their coffee with, should they so desire). When I tell people I'm really not a sweet tooth -- it seems I mean it!)

My husband and I were just reminiscing about snow ice cream the other night (have no idea why) but I forgot about the maple taffy. That was a great winter tradition!

I was remembering this thread as I had French Toast (which we jokingly call Toast Française) this morning for breakfast. It turns out I had a small jug of maple syrup in the fridge with only a few drops left, but luckily I also had an unopened jug in the pantry.

Some restaurant around here listed a dish that involved "hickory syrup" which I had never heard of before.

Neither. We don't eat pancakes or waffles.

I grew up on pancake mix and Aunt Jemima. I don't make pancakes or waffles very often but when I do I make it from scratch since it's so easy to do and I use maple syrup from Costco.

Neither really. The rare times I want a syrup I go for a fruit syrup, preferably apricot or raspberry, occasionally strawberry or blueberry. A bottle lasts a long time. I like fresh fruit on pancakes or waffles those times I rarely eat them when eating out.