Why bartenders are turning to pure maple syrup

As the cultural shift towards health consciousness continues, drinkers are taking a more considered approach to what, and how, they consume.

Wellness now extends into social and leisure choices, but today’s consumers are not necessarily drinking less – they’re drinking better. They want options that reflect a mindful lifestyle: lower in sugar, made from natural ingredients, and free from unnecessary additives. And what they’re not looking for is overly sweet, synthetic drinks that sacrifice flavour.

In bars, that is translating to demand for drinks with cleaner ingredients, that support the lifestyle people are actively seeking. As a result, bartenders are rethinking how sweetness is built into drinks, and finding new ways to create balanced, flavourful drinks.

Offering a high-quality, all-natural option that fits perfectly within this movement, pure Canadian maple syrup is emerging as a key player in this space. It’s a single-ingredient product that is both vegan and gluten free, and much more than a kitchen staple.

With 72 per cent of the world’s pure maple syrup harvested in the maple forests of Québec, Canada during spring – crafted with the sap from maple trees and boiled down into pure syrup – this pure product provides a sweetness that feels natural on the palate. Its nuanced flavour and subtle notes pair well with whisky, rum, tequila, and even lighter spirits, without overpowering.

Unlike processed sugars, maple syrup offers nutritional benefits – it contains a number of important vitamins and minerals such as vitamin B2, and it’s also free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives.

For bartenders, the advantage of using pure maple syrup in cocktails and mocktails is its balance of flavour and functionality, and the opportunity to offer cleaner drinks that connect with today’s health-conscious consumers.

Clean and crafted

While pure maple syrup fits demand for natural drinks, the trend toward light, refreshing cocktails creates even more opportunity for it to shine. A dash of pure maple syrup in a citrus-forward spritz can round out acidity and add body, and tall serves like the chilled maple mint tea and maple, lemon, lime and bitters put maple syrup front and centre, using its subtle sweetness to balance out zesty citrus for a drink that works with and without alcohol.

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The moderation mindset is just another example of evolving consumer demands – and another trend that pure maple syrup delivers on. With a natural sweetness and body that helps replicate the mouthfeel alcohol would normally provide, pure maple syrup gives structure to non-alcoholic cocktails.

Swapping out rum for pure maple syrup is an easy switch in serves like the piña colada maple mocktail and mojito maple mocktail, adding a gentle roundness that ties the drink together without altering the taste that cocktail drinkers know and love.

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Conscious consumption

As much as pure Canadian maple syrup is a natural fuel for the mind and body, it is also crafted with sustainable and ethical practices at the heart of its production – another hot topic in the drinks industry.

While sugar has had an unparalleled impact on the environment by fuelling deforestation and spreading pollution through fertilisers, the production process for pure maple syrup does not use fertilisers, and it doesn’t cause harm to the surrounding environment.

But the sustainability story for pure maple syrup runs much deeper still. The maple forests of Québec act as natural carbon sinks, with the 34 million trees used each year capturing the equivalent carbon output of more than 220,000 cars – meaning the carbon stored in these forests far outweighs the emissions produced during syrup making.

That environmental commitment continues through careful forest management: no commercial logging and conservative tapping, meaning trees can produce sap for more than a century.

For bartenders, it’s an ingredient that not only tastes good but does good, and a way of aligning a beverage program with the values of sustainability and transparency that today’s consumers increasingly expect.

Find more balanced recipes infused with pure Canadian maple syrup on the Maple from Canada website.