[0xffff2]

I grew up with the fake stuff, and have lately done quite a bit of taste testing of the various grades of real stuff. Grade A golden is the only one with a distinct enough difference in flavor for me to care, and even then it's very much an acquired taste, not immediately and distinctly better. Given the stark price difference, my conclusion is that the maple syrup elitism is a silly hobby horse for people with too much money.

[nick__m]

There are 2 maple grove owner in my extended family (both are my uncles one on my father side and one on my mother side) so I never saw that as a luxury product and never had to acquire maple syrup at market price.

But I understand your point, if you grew on the fake stuff and considering how expensive maple syrup is, you have nothing to gain by training yourself to prefer the real stuff.