@Trai_Dep: Something tells me that the Cracker Barrel wouldn't make it very far in Canada, indeed.

I'm sure they think we're all hoodlems anyway, after reading the comments on this post it seems like most people don't realise there is a difference between real Maple syrup and the kind that they are used to eating : /

My dad thought Log Cabbin was the real thing too. I educated him and he actually helped me take the picture of the bottles. He is really proud of himself that he contributed. He said that I'm famous now and he helped, lol.

@speedwell, new and improved: Think my blood sugar went up 200 points just thinking about that one!

@h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes: Count me in, too. My hubby makes it from trees we tap in our yard!
~40 gal sap = 1 gal syrup

We're currently doing it totally backyard sugaring style right now (boiling in an old keg) but hope to get an evaporator pan for this coming season.

Lol.

I've always preferred jams, jellies, and preserves to syrups, anyway. Or even straight-up honey. They're far, FAR better on biscuits than maple syrup, anyway. Maple I can take or leave, but I'll kill the man who comes between me and a fresh biscuit with homemade strawberry preserves. XD

@HogwartsAlum: I think that's a Kraft product, not the restaurant.

@katstermonster:
#2 is only true at chain restaurants and diners, IMO. A lot of the little breakfast places I've been to only have real syrup.

@HogwartsAlum: Someone made a Little House on the Prairie cookbook? I believe I'll be asking for that for xmas.

"REMEMBER: EACH SYRUP COSTS $1.50, GIVE ONLY ONE"

Huh? Yes, pure maple syrup can be pricey but how on Earth is Cracker Barel paying $1.50 for each 1.7 ounces of it (old bottle)?? I can get a bottle of pure maple syrup at my local grocery store for about $6 (store brand). I was just looking at it last week.

That store bottle would probably fill 10 of these little Cracker Barrel bottles. How are they paying $1.50 for each small bottle.

@stormbird: When I was in college, the cafeteria would alternate between sweet (pancake/french toast) and salty (bacon/sausage/eggs). On sweet days, it was always 4 pancakes and a 1/2 pound of chocolate chips. So good.

@BluePlastic: Holy moly... and I thought my S.O. was the only one who used Karo syrup (and a stick of butter!) on his french toast....

@kaceetheconsumer: Cracker Barrel made one stupid ash move doing this...

@Tankueray: A+! I'm the same way.... might die of cancer, but at least I was able to cut out 500 calories a day with substitutes!

The nearest big town to me is a truck-stop town on I20, so they have a Cracker Barrel. We'd go every so often. We noticed about a year ago that the portions just didn't fill us up any more, and we'd still leave hungry.

We went Friday night in fact, first time in 7 months. We were left waiting for our food for 45 minutes (our server was so busy helping others that she forgot to put in our order) then after the manager got involved, our food finally came. My order was wrong, and took 2 more trips to the kitchen to solve it. The manager took care of the bill, but it's the first time in the 9 years we've been together that my wife (born and raised here in Georgia) hasn't tipped (she was REALLY pissed when the server said it 'wasn't really her fault')

We were considering going there for Thanksgiving (experimenting with alternatives to expensive thanksgiving cooking - especially as I'm British and it doesn't really matter to me) but now we'll probably look at other places. Might go back to CB another time, but it will be a month or three at least

HFCS is evil. It turns off the HORMONE (thanks again, pinky) that turns off hunger and causes gout. There's a video at [www.forumeter.com] explaining it. I do disagree where he shows that HFCS was on the Grassy Knoll.

HFCS is evil. It turns off the hor

Of course, part of why I only eat the real stuff on pancakes is because it's so sweet and flavourful that the tiniest drop packs such a punch that you don't need to slop it on like the fake stuff. *shudder*

@inadequatewife:

Too bad you have to be in a place that gets *plenty* of snow to take advantage of it!

They have dispensers where you can taste the different grades and compare the texture/flavour. Best of all, they have a little store where you can buy their syrup - everything from a 2 oz bottle (way overpriced) to a 4 liter tin (affordable, yet still pricey). They also sell maple butter, spreads, cookies, candy, etc... that they make on-site.

The syrup comes from a local maple farm, and they have a table in the corner set up to sell their products. They do quite a brisk business.

The syrup may be expensive, but decanters eliminate the "theft" of the little bottles (yes, I know they are paid for in the cost of the meal) and the waste from half-used bottles. I'd think it would balance out in the end.

A sign of big trouble for a restaurant:

When the accountant drives the decisions about the food that is served to the customers.

The accountant will never recommend a change that improves the food.

@PsiCop: Real maple syrup is way too expensive to allow diners to pour their own from a large decanter.

I don't buy the cheese either.

Heh, I have a LHOTP cookbook. :)

@CFinWV: Huh. Interesting. I love me some real maple syrup...probably because it's what I grew up on, though.

@catastrophegirl: Ah, thank you much. I thought so.

My favorite sugar free maple-flavored syrup comes from them. Got me a big-ol' bottle here. It has: Water, Sorbitol, Cellulose Gum, Natural and Art. Maple Flavor (sulfites), Salt, Splenda, and a whole bunch of preservatives that people say cause cancer. It's no where close to the real thing, but if I'm going to go with fake, I'm also going to cut out the calories.

Maple Syrup.... what the hell is that?

Here in California we have something called... Maple Flavored Syrup, which consists of High Fructose Corn Syrup, and maple extract flavoring... aka, Regular Ass Syrup as I call it.

So if someone is growing up in a "Maple" area and finds their Maple state all of a sudden went all "Californian" on them... Id be pissed and skeptical as well.

Even the "real America" can be scammy schmucks!

I wonder how much they paid their legal department to come up with that label..

I think they would have been better off leaving the label off and just buying some dirty dishwater "pancake" syrup and selling that.

This really sux. I am happy with about 1/4 of the bottle of syrup. They could kept the purity and shrunk the bottle and I would have been just as happy.

@tankertodd: Diabetics everywhere curse you, you... gourmet you.

They're saving money. They should come clean and tell us what they've done. Most consumers will probably be fine with it - they'd rather pay the same for their pancakes and have the quality decrease by some amount than pay more.

It is sad.

It's funny, but I've never bought any other kind of syrup, because my mom always used 100% maple syrup, so when I actually did taste Aunt Jemima's syrup - I was disgusted.

Buying real maple syrup is definitely worth it.

I like occasionally eating fatty foods just as much as anyone else, but when I think "home-cooked meal" I don't think "added lard to every recipe".

Mea culpa for me!

I had to shake my head a few years ago when they tinkered with the grading system for marketing purposes. Actually, I ignore it and get the stronger flavored Grade-B anyway.

shows the closest smallest container of real is
[www.minimus.biz]

@I'm a tweeple too!: First of all, I didn't stash it all the time.. and second of all.. it came with my meal which I paid for and what is the difference in whether I eat it at the restarant or if I take it home and eat it later?

@inadequatewife: It impressed me as well, even though I don't use the syrup personally. It made it seem like they really cared about quality ingredients. I'm pretty shocked by this change.. and I'm glad I had the evidence to prove it!

I assume that the average restaurant uses "maple flavored" syrup and not the real thing. Which used to impress me at Cracker Barrel because it was clear that they were using 100% pure maple syrup. I guess the average consumer doesn't notice the change in packaging/labeling.

Read it here:
[www.walletpop.com]

Rising costs from "stashing" are included in the shrink ray.

@EarlNowak: Ah, so true. I guess living here in CT I benefit from being close to all the syrup-making, etc. Kind of blew my mind wen I figured out other people didn't eat the good stuff. Heh. How expensive is it in other parts of the US?

@subtlefrog: Yesssss.....accidental, I say. Haha. Now that I look at it, it makes sense that some people don't know the difference, simply by geography. Still hurts me, though. I love my male -- er, MAPLE syrup!

@Laura Northrup: Same here. I actually use syrup pretty sparingly, because I only make pancakes or french toast a few times a year, and it's definitely worth the price to have it around. My mother buys in bulk. YUM.

Sweet!
[pun intended]

Die, heretic!

;-)

Craker Barrel could use top quality maple syrup if they wanted to. But some accountant or other bean counter convinced management that we consumers are too stupid to know the difference and they can put the ($) difference in their pockets . (It probably won't go to the rightful owners - managements nowadays gobble up any gains in profitability so fast that there is seldom much left over for the shareholders)

I personally would love to see where the orange juice that they serve comes from. (I'll bet its from Costa Rica or Brazil). The best orange juice in the world is grown here ,but mangements of these chains feel that you don't deserve it. They will pay to import juice from anywhere on the planet to save a few cents rather than serve the very best.

Well, I did in college. We did it with the buckets and a sugar shack and all.

I grew up on Mrs. Butterworth's (maple flavored sugar water) but we switched to only actual maple syrup when I was probably middle school aged. I never looked back.

Now, when I can't afford maple syrup, I just don't bother. I use it on pancakes, waffles, and to sweeten plain yogurt. Nom.

This story suddenly takes a very perverse turn about "male syrup."

I don't really think that many people know the difference, though, because I'd bet most people didn't grow up on the real stuff. I'd bet most people grew up on Mrs. Butterworth's because it is widely available, and cheap. The average person probably looks at the cost of real maPle syrup and doesn't see a reason to spend that. Again, I'm talking about the average person, not everyone. Else, how would so many syrup companies still be in business?

Until I had a roommate from upstate new york in grad school, I didn't know the difference between Maple and Table syrups. Then again, I had to teach her the difference between Wild Shrimp and imported farmed shrimp, so I think it was an even exchange.

But yes - I'm not from Vermont, but yikes - you don't dilute the real thing with...with...that crap.

But OTOH, are you trying to tell me that my male syrup isnt really male syrup unless it doesnt form crusts?

Also,

Off The Grid: Your doin it rong.

(1) REAL maple syrup must be refrigerated after opened. The refillable container at IHOP is not real syrup, and neither are those packets you get at the diner.

(2) If you're not paying extra for it at a restaurant, it's probably not syrup.

(3) Real maple syrup develops maple sugar crusties around the top of the container (YUM). If you don't see those after the first use....it's not male syrup.

(4) The real deal will be labelled with "100% Real Maple Syrup," plus an indication of the grade (A, B, etc.).

Do as many people as I think really now know the difference? Not being snarky, I'm just really curious, since I grew up on the real stuff and was shocked as all hell to have breakfast at a friend's house at the age of 5 and gag when I tasted Mrs. Butterworth's. Blech. I guess I'm just a syrup elitist. :)

@mrsam: That's probably not real maple syrup either. I've never seen real syrup in a packet like that, only the fake stuff. I don't see any in a quick google of "maple syrup packet."

She didn't even realize that the Mrs. Butterworth's she'd been using all those years wasn't from maple trees. *Facepalm*

Delicious corn syrup. And it's %100 natural! It comes from corn, right?

Sigh. All my foodie cred, gone.

@ianbeyer: Quit your birching

I grew up in maple country, and refuse to put brown corn syrup on my pancakes. I'll pay market rate to get the real deal.

Costco sells maple syrup, and packages it such that the price remains constant, and the package size varies based on the going rate for the current year's crop. Maple prices were high this year, so the bottle was smaller. A few years ago, when syrup was cheap, the $14 at Costco bought you a 2-quart jug. I shoulda stocked up!

Every spring we head to the maple farm 20 minutes away and buy a 4-liter tin for $55.00 - very pricey but worth every penny and we support a local farmer. We keep the big tin in the freezer which turns the syrup into a thick sludge, but keeps it from getting moldy. We transfer smaller quantities to a syrup dispenser which we keep in the fridge.

This article definitely affects my impression of Cracker Barrel. Even though they're a big chain, I figured they were a little more "home cooked" than the typical place that just microwaves precooked food.

I agree with everyone else that they should use dispensers on the table, with real maple syrup. Less expensive packaging with the real product seems like a winning combination.

I suppose I will get pilloried for saying that I much prefer IHOP's strawberry syrup to any variety of maple, even the 100% pure kind.

As for dispensing their syrup this way, it seems pretty wasteful. Most diners have syrup in larger decanters, and you just pour it from that. Packaging it into little bottles must be costing Cracker Barrel something.

@h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes:

Being originally from Middlebury, I whole heartedly agree.

Shame on Cracker Barrel for implementing this sham. Unfortunately, the same misleading marketing has been in-place for at least 20 years with maple sugar candy. Most of what you can buy has been a mix of cane/beet sugar and maple sugar (in that order.) If you've had the real stuff, it's very easy to tell the difference.

What I cannot comprehend is how they could justify switching to a sugar-based syrup AND shrinking the volume at the same time.

Since I now live in the Pacific NW, I buy my genuine syrup at Costco and/or the occasional half-price sales on Amazon (of all places.) It's well worth the $13/quart for the real stuff. I wish I could still buy it for $32/gallon in VT (via my brother's friend, a sugar shack owner.) With shipping, it's just not worth the slight price advantage to impose on him.

My family will kill me if they knew (Vermont roots) but I prefer cane syrup over the maple syrup I was force feed all my life. Of cource we all know the stuff that is sold is not the best stuff and my uncle and cousins make some great syrup.

Blech.

@mrsam: That bottle is GLASS.

Although I'm not a regular patron, french toast in general is delicious when slathered in salted butter and 100% pure Vermont maple syrup.

On the other hand, that's some expensive-ass syrup for a us-wide chain to use.

But, if you want to set yourself apart from the others.... quality products is one way to.

What's the cost of French Toast at a Cracker Barrel?

But pure maple syrup isn't cheap. I usually buy local stuff when I visit my parents' place in Pensylvania, and it's like $15 for a quart.

At one diner I occasionally frequented, the waitress always brings out a bucket full maple syrup in sealed plastic containers. You peel off the top, and pour out the syrupy goodness. I used at most two containers, it was more than enough for my order, and by eyeballing the picture, it looks like even the shrunk bottle holds at least six-eight cups' worth of syrup.

But then again, real maple syrup? --yum--