Molasses: A Choice of Words

Is it Molasses or is it Sorghum?

In the standardized World out there, every effort is made to homogenize Terms. While such actions may be important to establish identity and uniqueness in the Outer World, that Big Steam Roller World slowly but surely rolls over and eradicates Local and Family Traditions. As a culture, we have surely had far too much of that.

In 2003, our Family began the process of bringing back a long tradition which had lapsed for 2 1/2 decades. With the recollections of the Crawford Brothers and their Families, we began again to make Molasses. With the Leadership of Hollis, every effort was made to reclaim the Vintage Process, which meant doing it the way the Boys' family had done. That 1st batch was made in 2004. We have made it every year since. To the best of our knowledge, this Tradition goes back to at least the early 1900s with the Boys' Grandparents and their Family.

We are a small Family operation, doing it by hand and producing a very small amount primarily for Family rather than Commercial use. In many ways, making it for Family and preserving Tradition allow us to use our own terms, which should follow tradition.

We call the Product we produce "Molasses" which is closer to tradition than the standard terms used today ("Sorghum Syrup", "Sweet Sorghum Syrup"). Sometimes, we refer to it as "Sorghum", but Sorghum is the plant the Juice and the Syrup come from. And of particular note, the Molasses we produce is not the same as that one buys from the Store.

This choice of words is in no way a judgment of the terms used in that Outer World. It is just our choice. Other Folks need to choose the terms which fit for them and for their own reasons. In a complicated World, we are all finding our way.