In Season: Sorghum Syrup
If you’ve never tasted sorghum on a hot buttered biscuit, you’ve only half lived.
In the mountain South it’s known as long sweetnin’ for its lingering rich-as-honey finish. Steeped in backcountry tradition, sorghum syrup making is an art--a magical, end-of-summer alchemy bottled in a mason jar.
To Buy
Look for 100% pure sorghum syrup at farm stands or specialty markets, or order online. Unlike molasses, sorghum has a buttery complexity.
To Store
Tuck it into a dark kitchen cupboard, ready to drizzle over baked apples, hot cornbread, or a down-home version of caramel macchiato.
To Cook
Substitute it in equal amounts for corn syrup, maple syrup, honey, or molasses in recipes.
To Party
Syrup-making festivals with hand-harvested sorghum cane and mule-drawn presses are held across the South from late August to mid-October.
Sorghum syrup-making festivals with hand-harvested sorghum cane and mule-drawn presses are held across the South from late August to mid-October. One of the largest festivals, in the beautiful mountain town of Blairsville, Georgia spans two weekends--October 9-10 and 16-17.
Mountaineer Folk Festival
Fall Creek Falls State Park
Pikeville TN 37367
September 10-12, 2010
423/881-5708
visitfallcreekfalls.com
Cades Cove
Smoky Mountains National Park
September 4-6 and 17-19, November 5-7 and 12-14, 2010
865/436-1200
865/436-7318
Fall Heritage Festival and Old Timers Day
Townsend, TN
September 24, 25, 2010
800/525-6834
smokymountains.org
7th Annual Old Mill Heritage Day
Pigeon Forge, TN
September 25, 2010
865/428-0071
oldmillheritageday.com
Dollywood National Southern Gospel Music & Harvest Celebration
Pigeon Forge, TN
September 29-October 30, 2010 (closed Thursdays)
800/365-5996
dollywood.com
Fall Homecoming
Museum of Appalachia
Norris, TN
October 7-10, 2010
865/494-7680
museumofappalachia.org
Music and Molasses Arts & Crafts Festival
Ellington Agriculture Center
Nashville, TN
October 16-17, 2010
615/837-5197
tnagmuseum.org
36th Annual Midway Fall Festival
Midway, KY
September 18-19, 2010
859/846-4966
midwayfallfestival.org
Morgan County Sorghum Festival
West Liberty, KY
September 24-26, 2010
859/398-1428
cityofwestliberty.com/sorghumfestival.htm
Shockley’s Old Timey Days
Hillsville, VA
September 25-26, 2010 (rain dates October 2-3)
276-733-4953
Murray’s Mill Harvest Folk Festival
Catawba, NC
September 25-26, 2010
828/464-0383
catawbahistory.org
Clifford Ruritan Club Sorghum Festival
Clifford, VA
October 2-3, 2010
434/946-2208
Harvest Festival
Renfro Valley, KY
October 1-3, 2010
800/765-7464
renfrovalley.com
Kentucky Wool Festival
Falmouth, KY
October 1-3, 2010
606/735-3402
Sorghum Festival
Michigan City, MS
Burton Sugar Farm
October 2, 2010
662/224-4950
burtonsugarfarm.com
Madison County Fair
Marshall, NC
August 26-28, 2010 (Sorghum-making demos August 28)
828/649-2411
41st Annual Sorghum Festivals
Blairsville, GA
Meek’s Park
October 9-10 and 16-17, 2010
sorghum.blairsville.com
Voyles’ Sorghum Making
Ava, MO
October 9, 2010
417/683-3107
Homestead Festival
Harrisburg, AR
The Whitehall Community
October 9-10, 2010
parkerhomestead.com
October Court Days
Mount Sterling, KY
October 15-18, 2010
859/498-8732
mtsterlingtourism.com
Old School Sorghum Festival
Garland, NC
October 16, 2010
910/564-5069
oldschoolsorghum.com
Prairie Rose Farm Fall Celebration
Pryor, OK
October 16, 2010
918/695-7481
prairieroseok.com
Corn Shucking Frolic
Pinnacle, NC
Horne Creek Farm
October 16, 2010
336/325-2298
nchistoricsites.org/horne/
35th Annual Sorghum Day Festival
Wewoka, OK
October 23, 2010
405/257-5485
wewokachamber.samsbiz.com
Sourcery
Look for 100% pure sorghum syrup at farm stands and specialty markets (such as Whole Foods), or order online from one of these suppliers. Molasses, a byproduct of sugar making, lacks sorghum’s buttery complexity.
Muddy Pond Sorghum Mill
Monterey, TN
931/445-3589
muddypondsorghum.com
Charles Kramer
Lynnville, IA
515/594-4369
maasdamsorghum.com
Sandhill Farm, Inc.
Rutledge, MO
660/883-5543
info@sandhillfarm.org
Hillside Orchard Farms, Inc.
Tiger, GA
706/782-4995 or 866/782-4995
hillsideorchard.com
Sorghum Snapshots
View a film clip classic of sorghum syrup making in Flatwoods, Texas--hosted by Mike Seibert, the former District Attorney of Eastland.youtube.com/watch?v=MVkQ-SOL5IQ
Visit Muddy Pond Sorghum Mill in Monterey, Tennessee. youtube.com/watch?v=JESJpXjSBHY
Or, take a pictorial trip to Onion Creek Farm in Dripping Springs, Texas, and watch the harvest of “Honey Drip” heirloom sweet sorghum http://drippingsprings.dsbabble.com/2009/07/21/sorghum-pressing-and-processing--onion-creek-farm-day-two-a-pictorial.aspx.