Birch & Walnut Syrups: Beyond the Maple

Move aside, maple! We have two new syrups to add to the table. Check out this insight on tapping, selling, and eating syrup from walnut & birch trees.

The following is an excerpt from Farming the Woods by Steve Gabriel and Ken Mudge. It has been adapted for the web.

Walnut Syrup

Walnut (Juglans spp.) trees are wonderful nut producers and also provide potential high-value wood products. If trees are not candidates for the latter, then tapping in addition to nut harvest can be a nice combination of yields for the forest farmer.

The tapping of walnut also opens up the possibility of sugaring for forest farmers in warmer temperate climates found in the southern United States and parts of the Midwest.

Potential Sap Yields

While the basics of tapping, harvesting, and boiling walnut are the same as with maple and birch, the potential yields are much lower.

Walnut trees have a similar sap-to-syrup ratio as maple syrup, but sap yields (volume per tree) from trees appear to be lower. Walnut sap flows in response to the freeze/thaw dynamics similar to those that make the maple sap run, so often the need to boil is concurrent with maple syrup.

While there is still research to be done, it isn’t highly likely that black walnut syrup will develop into its own market. Instead, it is recommended as a hobby pursuit or for the commercial grower to consider boiling walnut along with maple, and selling this combination for a higher price.

Indeed, a small number of growers are doing this and getting as much as $60 a gallon for their walnut-maple syrup (compared for $45 a gallon for pure maple). This is mostly because of the novelty.

Differences Between Syrups: Walnut vs. Maple

On its own, walnut syrup is similar to maple syrup; it can be quite astringent but is infused with the nutty taste one might expect from it.

Researchers from Kansas State University recently experimented with producing black walnut syrup, then did some consumer research on preferences for black walnut versus maple syrup.

They found no significant differences on the likability scale between these two syrups and concluded that black walnut syrup could develop as a niche market in the Midwest.⁴³

Tapping Walnut Trees

Usually it isn’t recommended that trees destined for timber markets be tapped, whatever the species.

Yet an interesting recent anecdote is that tapped maple wood has been successful when sold as a high-value wood in niche markets, where the staining is seen as a unique feature desirable to some for decorating homes and celebrating the rich tradition of sugaring.

The same potential could hold true for black walnut, though it’s hard to know.

One major difference is that the discoloration left by a tap in maple wood is often a dark stain on white wood, but the black walnut develops a very dark brown heartwood, and it’s unclear what effect tapping would have on this.

So if timber is a clear goal for walnut trees, it’s better to leave them untapped. Walnut trees with poor form and defects are good possible candidates for experimentation. Trees with a decent timber potential could also be tapped lower on the tree.

Birch Syrup