From Tohmajärvi to Japan, Korea, and Europe
Aurinkolehto produces hundreds of thousands of bottles of birch sap each year
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By Minna Pölkki
In April Susanna and Arto Maaranen work almost around the clock. Their company bottles birch sap in Tohmajärvi, a rural community in Northern Karelia.
The sap season keeps the entrepreneurs busy, even though the collection and transportation of the sap from the forest to the bottles has been eased by automation.
Susanna Maaranen pours this elixir of life into a glass. The clear liquid is like water, but it has a slight aroma.
The taste is also mild. A Japanese panel described the taste as light and sweet, with a slight aroma of wood.
"Some old sap collectors have said that birch sap is cloudy and not clear, but if it is cloudy, it has spoiled", Susanna Maaranen explains.
Birch sap spoils more easily than milk. Many producers either pasteurise it or add preservatives.
The Maaranens developed their own method that does not use preservatives or heat. The method earned them the President's INNOFINLAND innovation prize three years ago.
The natural birch sap bottled by Aurinkolehto stays fresh at room temperature in an unopened bottle for two and a half years. In an opened bottle, it will keep for three to five days when refrigerated.
The company produces hundreds of thousands of bottles of birch sap each year; 97% of the production goes to export - mainly Japan, Korea, and Central Europe.
The Maaranens themselves drink birch sap every day. Susanna likes it cold, while Arto prefers to have it at room temperature.
"As birch sap is a symbol of the power of life, many will drink it at graduation parties, for instance. It can also be added to punch, but then the subtle taste is lost."
Maaranen recommends birch sap as a drink to have with meals. If the taste is not to one's liking, it can be masked by adding juice to it. Some make their traditional First of May mead with birch sap rather than water. Others use it for baking bread.
"During birch sap time some will brew their coffee in it. They say that it makes for a softer taste."
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 18.4.2005
More on this subject:
 The birch sap is flowing again!
FACTFILE: Birch sap flows during springtime, before the leaves sprout
MINNA PÖLKKI / Helsingin Sanomat
minna.polkki@hs.fi
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