Almost everyone loves waffles, pancakes, or French toast. They are famous breakfast staples you can get at any diner, but, of course, taste better home-made. But what are waffles, pancakes, and French toast without being dunked in delicious maple syrup? Rick Molleur has been making home-made syrup since he was eighteen years old, and has decided to turn his lifelong hobby into a small business.

Molleur’s family had a history of making syrup, his dad and uncle made syrup in their backyard when Molleur was a kid. The day the families would get together to tap the trees in their yard would always be an event; Molleur and his cousins would get together to play football in the yard as the adults started the syrup-making process. Molleur said these days were some of his favorite memories so when he and his cousin, Bill Brooks, were 18, they decided to recreate these memories again by making another batch of syrup.

Brooks worked in a metal shop, and so they used those materials to make a syrup evaporator, a machine that turns raw sap into maple syrup by evaporating water within the sap. Molleur still has part of this syrup evaporator today.

Brooks and Molleur stopped making syrup for a while, since they each started families. In 2012, the two decided to make one more batch for old times’ sake. But after making that “one last batch” Brooks and Molleur realized how much they missed making syrup.

“I started tapping some trees here on our property and forgot how much I really enjoyed it,” said Molleur. “And then I refined the process so [the syrup] tasted a little better, and it grew from there.”

Molleur would give bottles of syrup to family and friends, who never had negative feedback.

“[Molleur’s syrup] is very good,” said Katie Yoxall, Molleur’s neighbor. “[It’s] way better than store syrup.”

Molleur realized when people started asking for syrup to give as gifts, that he had a marketable product. He typically sells his syrup through Clover Nook Farms in Bethany, and is waiting on labels before his syrup reaches the shelves. This year syrup will be sold for $12.00 for a 12 ounce glass bottle and $9.00 for an 8 ounce glass bottle.

The next time you set up your table for breakfast, you could be enjoying a bottle of natural, locally-made Molleur’s Maple Syrup!