Pen & Cob Farm - Spruce Syrup

From Pen & Cob farm in DownEast Maine.

Upscale the everyday by drizzling Spruce Syrup on chèvre, ice cream, pineapple, or some roasted veg. Make a mean cocktail or mocktail. Right around the time the black flies start biting, the bright green tips of the spruce trees plump and begin to open. Each spring, there is about a 1 week window when tips can be picked before they go woody. The spruce tips are sustainably harvested by hand and brought back to the Pen & Cob farm kitchen where they are macerated in unrefined, fair trade, organic brown sugar. The brown sugar pulls the oils from the tips creating a sweet and surprisingly citrus tasting liquid. No water is ever added to the process. The syrup is boiled to just the right consistency without losing any of the spruce flavor.