Maple Ridge Sugar House owners carry on family legacy

LOUDON — About 10 years ago, Miranda Milano’s grandparents packed up to move to Florida. Milano knew then that the only chance the family farm had for a future rested with her and her husband, Patrick Colby. They took on the challenge eagerly.

The two hunkered down, renovating the homestead at Maple Ridge Sugar House in Loudon, upgrading the sugar shack with modern efficiencies and tapping over 8,000 trees on the 300-acre property with a vacuum system that draws the sap into storage containers.

In their first year as farm operators, Milano said she and Colby had a few hundred visitors. Last year, they saw thousands. Milano said the improvements they invested in are reaping sticky rewards. Last year, Maple Ridge produced 2,200 gallons of syrup, along with maple popcorn, maple sugar, maple cream and maple butter.

“My grandparents had this love, and they entrusted my husband and I with taking on their passion – this house and farm they worked so hard for. There’s a responsibility to live up to that and make them happy,” Milano said. “We do right by the farm. My grandparents are very proud. I send them products.”

People in the Lakes Region and beyond can get their hands on products by visiting the farm — or one of many others — during Maple Month.

Capping off a month’s worth of awareness on maple products, the New Hampshire Maple Producers Association was – until fears of the coronavirus struck – planning the weekend of March 21 and 22 as the state’s annual Maple Weekend.

The weekend itself is off, though some producers and suppliers will have their doors open, including Milano. 

“While Maple Weekend has been canceled, our doors will be open and we are transitioning to a ‘grab and go’ type system,” they wrote on the farm’s Facebook page. “You can still come to our store front and purchase your favorites.

“Samples and guided tours will no longer be happening (for safety and health reasons) but you can still enjoy a quick walk around and see how things are done.”

In the past, she and Colby opened up the farm to the public for the event, attracting children and families who sat on tractors, ATVs and other farm equipment, and played with baby goats from a local 4-H group, and the farm’s 900-pound pig, Stanley.

The 2020 season

Sap started flowing this winter at the end of January. Milano said the first boil was Jan. 27. “We’ve boiled as early as Jan. 21 in the past,” she said, noting she and Colby took advantage of a January thaw and made several hundred gallons of syrup.

For six to 10 weeks in spring, Milano said there is not a lot of sleep on the farm. “You’re really putting a lot of time and effort into it,” she added. “At the end of the day, when you have Maple Month and Maple Weekend, and you see your fan base grow, that’s worth it. And we see repeat customers every year and watch their kids grow up. There’s a lot to feel good about.”

While the farm is a mainstay for the couple, Milano also runs a dance studio, NV Dance Productions, and teaches dance at night. Colby runs G. Ray Colby and Son in Concord, which offers roofing services in the warm months and plowing in winter.

History

Milano was earning her bachelor’s degree in business at Hesser College in Nashua when her grandparents retired and let the family know they were moving to Florida. Milano asked her husband about going into business on the farm, and then she put her degree to work.

For many years, Jim and Mary Ellen Brown ran Browns Dairy Farm, and in 1994, they sold their cattle and raised and sold produce, also producing maple syrup. At that time, they came up with the name Maple Ridge Sugar House.

“I grew up on that farm,” Milano said.

Milano and Colby are heading into their eighth season. Milano said the work of creating syrup is intense and involved, which is why a gallon costs $58.

Steps in the process

This is a quick look at what’s involved in making syrup, from which the farm’s other products are created.

Collection: “We have a crew of about four to six people who tap the trees in January,” Milano said. The sap flows into main lines that, in turn, flow into four collection tanks in the woods; some of the tanks flow all the way into the sugar shack; the sap in others has to be collected manually.

Reverse osmosis: Through this process, excess water is extracted from the sap as it flows through a machine. “It comes in at about 2 percent sugar, 98 percent water,” Milano said. “When it comes out, it’s more like 16-17 percent sugar. This process cuts down boiling time.”

Evaporation: The concentrated sap is flowed into the evaporator, which is fueled by oil heat, and as it boils, it thickens. “Our longest boil is three hours,” Milano said.

Filtration: The syrup runs through a press to filter off impurities.

Storage: Syrup is either stored in 40-gallon, stainless-steel drums or it is bottled in gallons, half gallons, quarts or pints.

Making products: Staff make product, using the syrup in the 40-gallon drums.

Sales and distribution. Maple Ridge sells its products onsite and also to wholesalers, local restaurants – such as J & J’s Yolk & Co. in Belmont, a primary buyer, and Beefside Restaurant in Concord. The most unusual buyer is Chuck’s BARbershop, also in Concord. Milano said product is also sold through an App called What’s Good; through it, orders can be filled in Boston and Providence, R.I. “It’s like an online farmer’s market,” she explained.

Maple sugar, neat or on ice

Chuck’s BARbershop in Concord is a 1920s speakeasy; enter, and it seems you are in a barbershop—until a false wall opens, and you are in a busy bar, where the staff is adorned in flapper dresses and pinstriped suits. Staff go by one name only inside this place.

Watson, the general manager of Chuck’s BARbershop, said he met Milano about a year and a half ago. When he learned she owned Maple Ridge Sugar Shack, he was interested in aging syrup in oak barrels, as whiskey is aged. Not too long ago, he aged his first barrel and has begun to use the product in a drink called the Burlington – a combination of Angostura bitters, fresh lemon juice, sweet vermouth, the syrup (not always aged, given the small supply at present) and bourbon.

“It is quite simply the best maple syrup I’ve ever had in my entire life,” Watson said. “The depth and complexity of it. You get the oak and the smoothness, and you get the flavor.”

During Maple Weekend, the speakeasy will offer a maple whiskey sour—egg white, lemon juice, bourbon and the syrup.

Watson said at Chuck’s, all the food is made in-house. Likewise, all ingredients used in cocktails – such as the juices, syrups and infusions – are also made by staff.

Over time, Watson hopes to build his stock of aged maple syrup. “This takes a long time. It’s a process that can’t be rushed,” he said. “It is so fine that I would love to replace all of our maple syrup in-house with it, but it will take time to create that supply chain.”

He said he’s given samples to regular customers who want to buy it to take home. “It is simply amazing,” he added.

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Janice Beetle is an author, editor and owner of Beetle Press, a public relations and marketing company. She can be reached at janice@beetlepress.com.