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LARKSVILLE — When Bernie Okuniewski cooks up a vat of syrup, his main ingredient doesn’t begin with the sap flowing inside of a maple tree.
When it comes to the sticky stuff, it’s what’s on the outside of the tree that matters to Okuniewski.
The Larksville resident uses the bark from hickory trees to make his syrup, and what was once a hobby has now become a full-scale business. Syrup made from hickory bark has a unique flavor that’s a balance between sweet and smoky that differentiates it from maple syrup, Okuniewski said.
“It’s great for pancakes, but it can be used for so much more,” he said.
That includes cooking, mixing with tea or drizzling over a scoop of ice cream.
Okuniewski’s venture into the hickory syrup business began in January when he met Tom and Judy Razz, who founded Razz’s Shagbark Hickory Syrup. Months later, the Razz’s decided to move out of the area but they wanted to leave their business in good hands.
Okuniewski, 51, and his wife, Kim, were eager buyers.
“I’m a hobbyist,” Okuniewski said as he walked through his yard lined with beehives, an apple orchard a pen full of egg-laying hens. “I’ve made maple and hickory syrup in the past, but when I heard Tom and Judy wanted to sell, it was time to switch from hobbies to going into business.”
Okuniewski purchased the entire hickory syrup business from the Razz’s, everything from the stainless steel vats to, most importantly, their recipes. While the beehives, orchard and chickens may be hobbies, the hickory syrup is serious business for Okuniewski.
Rows of tubs piled high with hickory bark fill a corner of his yard, and inside the house there are vats of simmering hickory “tea,” which is cooked out of the bark, and a stainless steel filtration system that clarifies the liquid as it becomes syrup.
It’s a delicate process that the entire Okuniewski family contribute to, including Bernie and Kim’s children, Lindsay, 15, and Drew, 19.
And to get things just right, the process takes time.
The first step begins in the woods where Okuniewski and his family carefully peel loose bark from shagbark hickory trees. Bark is removed to a height of about 20 feet, Okuniewski said, and the process doesn’t hurt the tree.
“It grows new bark and after about two years you can’t tell a difference,” he said.
The bark is then washed in a plastic drum to remove dirt and debris that settled in the bark, and then it’s cooked in a vat.
Cooking is the most sensitive step of the syrup-making process, Okuniewski said.
“It can’t boil or it will get bitter. You have to simmer it and let it steep, which takes about a day,” he said. “Once you have a medium to dark amber tea, it’s strained and filtered several times to increase the clarity.”
Okuniewski also adds pure can sugar to the tea to expedite the syrup-making process, and the finished product is bottled when it simmered to 180 to 200 degrees.
Okuniewski said one bin of bark will yield about five gallons of syrup, but there’s still more work to do during the bottling process.
Plain hickory syrup has a sweet, smoky flavor that’s appealing enough, but Okuniewski takes things to another level with a few other varieties. The Madagascar Vanilla Bean-infused syrup contains an actual vanilla bean in each bottle to boost flavor.
Another variety is aged in used bourbon barrels for seven months, giving it a smooth edge. Okuniewski said there’s no alcohol in the bourbon barrel flavor because it evaporates during the cooking process.
Okuniewski has even added a new flavor since he purchased the business – a sweet and spicy variety that is infused with red pepper and is perfect as a marinade for grilling.
While Okuniewski is also a fan of homemade maple syrup, he said the hickory counterpart does have advantages. Bark can be stored indefinitely and the syrup-making process is year round and not seasonal like maple syrup.
And then there’s the variety.
“Hickory syrup is lighter than maple and when you use it in a recipe it won’t overpower the flavor, but it compliments it,” Lindsay Okuniewski said. “You can use it on any meat – chicken, ribs, and even in a wing sauce. It’s very versatile.”
Even after the syrup is made there’s still a use for the bark as Okuniewski utilizes it in another of his hobbies – smoking homemade kielbasi.
But since the hickory syrup is a business and not a hobby, the Okuniewski’s spend almost every weekend traveling to fairs and shows to sell their unique product. So far traveling is limited to around the state, but there are plans to take the hickory syrup to events in New York and New England.
“It’s busy, but I like the fact that this business is based on the outdoors. Everything starts when we go into the woods to collect bark, and the entire process is based from that, so it’s natural,” Okuniewski said. “And I’m glad to see my family is enjoying taking part in this. It’s a true family business.”