Is this for you at all
Updated
On this page6
The concentrated syrups
Maple, sorghum, cane and molasses, and the bought-in concentrates like agave and date syrup. You start with something dilute and boil off water until the sugar concentration reaches a number, and that number is the legal definition of the product. Maple is not maple syrup below 66 percent soluble solids; it is sweet sap. The equipment is an evaporator and the skill is in the finish.
The formulated syrups
Simple syrup, bar syrup, flavoring syrups and most fruit syrups. You dissolve a known weight of sugar into a known weight of water, so the concentration is arithmetic rather than a measurement you chase. There is no evaporator, the batch is finished in an afternoon, and the hard part is shelf life rather than density.
What the two have in common
A pourable product, a narrow neck, and the fact that sugar concentration is what keeps it from spoiling. That is why they sit together here. It is also where the similarity stops: one is hot packed into glass and the other is often cold filled and sometimes refrigerated.
Which one you are reading about
Pages that turn on the legal density, the evaporator or the grade are about the concentrated syrups and say so. Pages about shelf life, dissolving and flavoring are about the formulated ones. The sections on bottles, labels and pricing apply to both, because the bottle does not care how the sugar got there.
Honest about the season
A maple operation is tied to a few weeks of weather and the rest of the year is equipment, labels and selling last season’s stock. A formulated syrup can be made any week of the year. If you are deciding between them on economics rather than on what you already have, that difference matters more than the margins do.