The practice of tapping maple trees for their sap dates back long before European settlers arrived in North America. Indigenous peoples in what is now eastern Canada were the first to collect the sap of the sugar maple, boiling it down over open fires into a thick syrup and a hard sugar. Early settlers were introduced to the method and soon adopted it themselves. For generations the sap was reduced in large iron kettles, a laborious process that has since been steadily refined and supplanted by evaporators, vacuum tubing, and reverse-osmosis machines that permit greater efficiency, consistency, and yield. Modern maple production therefore hardly resembles its origins in appearance or scale, having grown into a major industry in which Canada supplies the overwhelming majority of the world's maple syrup.

Over the past few decades, the reputation of maple syrup as little more than a sugary indulgence has begun to dwindle. With closer study of its contents, many nutritionists today deem pure maple syrup in moderation to be a reasonable alternative to refined sugar, or even potentially beneficial. In addition, maple sap, the clear liquid drawn straight from the tree before boiling, has gained considerable attention as a mineral-rich beverage. Marketed as maple water, it is now sold as a natural source of manganese and antioxidants. Researchers investigating these compounds report that some of them may help to reduce inflammation in the body.