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.