A maple syrup producer from Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel is reinventing the traditional sugar shack and developing new products. Among the most popular: maple syrup aged in bourbon barrels.
Jean-Philippe Brière developed his passion for maple syrup production and for business as a teenager. I had regarding 20 gashes around my parents’ house. I was boiling, I was making my syrup. The first year, it was in my parents’ kitchen. I scrubbed the kitchen cabinets. I sold my small production. It was minimal as production, we are talking regarding twenty trees. I used to sell this to my high school at Séminaire Sainte-Marie.»
Products that are out of the ordinary
Today in his mid-thirties, the maple producer wants to modernize the art of working maple products. Yes, you have to respect tradition, but it can also be the starting point for something new.»
Its maple grove, L’Érabrière de Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel, stands out for its out-of-the-ordinary products: poutine with ears of crisse and homemade sausages, maple butter pizza, syrup infused with various flavors , etc.
A unique and popular maple syrup
One of the most popular products is syrup aged in bourbon barrels.
He himself buys barrels in Kentucky. The precious liquid rests for six to seven months before being bottled. The demand is such that it has gone from producing 45 liters in 2018 to 500 liters this year.
© / Radio-Canada
Jean-Philippe Brière has been producing maple syrup since he was a teenager.
Turning a constraint into an opportunity
He also reinvented the traditional all-you-can-eat meal. His hut adopts the snack formula, to take away. Traditional dishes like baked beans and ears of crisse are on the menu, but it’s the poutines, hot dogs or chicken wings with a touch of sweetness that hold the attention. This way of doing things was put in place because of the pandemic. He decided to keep it.
The maple syrup producer does not intend to stop here, he still has plenty of other ideas to develop his project. He wants to continue reinventing this tradition, which is firmly rooted in our area, the maple grove.
With information from Raphaël Brouillette