From the beginning, Ben’s Sugar Shack, located in Temple, NH, has strived to bring its customers and retail partners a line of 100% pure maple products that truly stand out from the crowd. When did this commitment start, you ask? Owner Ben Fisk’s passion for making maple syrup began when he was 5 years old, during a field trip to a maple sugar house in preschool. From that point on, he knew he wanted to make syrup. After coming home from school, he immediately told his dad all about his experience and ideas. The very next day, he and his father got started by creating their own homemade evaporator and hanging just 13 sap buckets. Although that first year produced less than a gallon of syrup, within ten years, at age 16, Ben won the Maple Producers Carlisle Trophy for the best syrup in New Hampshire.

Now, Ben’s Sugar Shack has grown to include two sugar houses, a wide variety of pure maple products, and the brand new Maple Station Market. Each year, we have experienced phenomenal growth in both the wholesale and retail markets while continuing to focus on producing the finest maple products in the world. Whether you are looking for 100% pure maple syrup, maple candy, maple cream, maple sugar, or even maple cotton candy, Ben’s Sugar Shack has that delicious something you are searching for.

Excitement has been building this year for Ben’s Sugar Shack and the upcoming 2025 Maple Sugaring Season! We are eager to share our passion for maple and teach others the entire process of nature’s delicious gift. Although the work is hard each year, with long hours, little sleep, and busy schedules, it is all worth it when we hear from our customers about how much they enjoy our maple products.

Although 2024 was challenging due to warmer temperatures we were still able to produce over 8,000 gallons of maple syrup with 28,171 taps. As one of the largest maple farms in NH, we start tapping in early January. Most years, we boil our first batch of sap by the third week in January. Our season usually starts and stops throughout because it is all dependent on the weather. As the season progresses, the sugar content in the sap drops, requiring more sap to produce just one gallon of maple syrup. Sugaring is hard; it takes approximately 40-50 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Towards the end of the season, this number climbs even higher, and eventually, the buds on the maple trees will bloom, creating an off-flavor in the maple. This is how we know the sugaring season is over!

One day after school, Ben's dad helped him build his first sugar house, measuring 12 ft x 16 ft. Ben's first evaporator was quite small, only 2 ft x 6 ft. During the sugaring season, we boil sap frequently, sometimes during the day and even at midnight. We also offer free maple tours every Saturday and Sunday during the season - now at our brand new location: The Maple Station Market!

We now have a 5 ft x 14 ft evaporator that runs on oil. Years ago, Ben had to cut over 60 cords of firewood a year just to keep up with sap production. Now, with more than double the number of taps, oil is the most economical way to boil sap to make maple syrup. We are proud of the progress we've made and can't wait for you to come visit us at The Maple Station Market - Open Now!