Hi everybody
welcome to this new "Igor and Seb" episode.
Today I'm taking you on the little roads
of Voyeykovo village
towards a maple grove
because today we're going to interview
the only commercial
maple sirup producer
of Russia and even Europe
Alexey Gribin -- That's his name --
He going to talk to us about his maple grove
but also
make us visit his sugar shack
that's actually at his home
and right now we're chasing
his little van you can see ahead
towards a part of his maple grove
that's scattered on many different sites
So I hope you'll enjoy this episode
and you'll learn all the basics of maple syrup production
This maple grove
Alexey told me
includes about 300 trees.
It's smaller than the one
in Voronezh
that includes over 2000 trees
he told me.
So we can see
it's a very fine cut
it leaks along the tube
into this recycled water bottle
to collect it
it's attached by the neck
around the tree
with a little cord.
It seems efficient,
as we can see the water leaking
Alexey was kind enough
to pour me some. I'm tasting it right now
I can testify it's really maple water.
Now I would like to talk
with Alexey and ask him
about his story
- Again, hi - Hi
- Tell us please, how old
are these trees?
- Oh, this one is big, it was probably planted a hundred years ago. - A hundred years?
So they've been there for a long time...
who planted them
do you know? - Back in the days, there was a park here
and in this park
the owners, before the Revolution
planted some trees.
Then maple crops grow very well
- I see. So they've first imported these
maples from Canada?
No, this is our maple, which grows in Europe
called the Norway maple
known in the US and Canada as
the Norway maple.
- That's right. We've got the Norway maple,
we also have the red maple
and the sugar maple.
- We've got a park not too far from here
where grows the red maple - It grows here?
- Yes. And at the botanical garden, we've got the sugar maple
But I'm not trying to import
any sugar
or red maples because our maple
gives just as good water albeit less sugary
but it's been growing here for hundreds of years
and the seeds, all that -- it's adapted to our climat.
Better work
with what's available here in terms of...
for example, at home I've got 15 000 seeds
that I've picked. We're going to germinate them
and then, in the next year
we're going to plant them and have a plantation
How has it all begun? Why have you decided
to brew your own syrup?
I was picking birch water
and I started to make birch syrup
more specifically, frozen birch water
without sterilization, without anything
- That was how many years ago?
- I pick the water since childhood
but professionnally, 4 or 5 years
And at the same time
I was learning to do that, I've understood that
I could make some maple syrup.
I tried to collect the water --
water was good I tried to make syrup --
syrup was also good
but the problem is it's very costy to produce.
If we compare it to the cost of Canadian maple syrup
Here, it's not profitable to produce it
Because from the outset
the collecting is made by hand
and we haven't got so many maples
in the Leningrad region
and other limitations that make the business unprofitable
And then
I went to a conference in the US
there was a conference about birch water
and birch syrup
and almost everybody there was producing maple syrup on the side
so I understood it was common practice
in the US and Canada
Then, I clearly understood that there was a potential
On the other hand, it's difficult because
once the maple season is over I've got no more strength left
to start the birch season
We are now standing in front of Alexey's house
we he lives with his wife and their 3 children
I'm going to talk to Mikhail who's going to tell us about the evaporator
- Hi Mikhail - Hi
- Tell us please, how many years have you been producing
maple syrup?
- Well, it's our third year
producing
maple and birch syrup.
- Maple and birch.
And this is the only operation
producing maple syrup in St. Petersburg?
- The only one in Russia
he's the only maple syrup producer in Russia.
- That's good
So what have we got there? Perhaps you could
show us this...
- So here we've got
the whole evaporator
There is a vat
Here, the pan where the maple
syrup is brewed.
We pour the water in this vat
on that side, there is a little tap
that we open from time to time
as the water evaporates
and we must add some.
Normally
it works this way : we open the tap
the water evaporates and the syrup is distillated in the pan
We've already sold all the early syrup
We had pre-orders and we've sent them
We still have the darker one
and even darker
There are 3 flavors
- Very well. Let's taste it!
- So is it good? - It's good - Of course!
- It remembers me of my childhood, but what? What exactly? Remember! I don't know what it is
- Caramel candies probably
- You wanted to show us someting? - Yes. Let's go and see
It's a long-term project
a goal to acheive in many years
Here are some seeds. We've already picked 15 000 maple seeds
from those of our maple whose water
is the most sugary.
The higher the sugar level, the better it is
You see, they've already started sprouting
we're going to plant them - Where?
- To start, I'm going to plant them
on a land at some friend's place
where they grow seedlings
Then, my goal is to clean this land, acquire or buy it
and grow a plantation
- You want to plant some at my datcha?
- It's doable, why not?
- 50%! - How many hectares have you got?
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