FAQ's

1. I've never heard of Hickory Syrup, how is it different than Maple? It is thicker, with a slight nutty taste, similar to pecans. Depending on how it's made, certain flavors, like Original, have a smokey taste that make them excellent to barbeque with. Unlike other syrups that involve tapping the trees, our syrup is made from the bark of the Shagbark Hickory tree. The bark naturally sloughs off so this is sustainable and doesn't hurt the tree in any way.

2. Unknown Shagbark Hickory Facts It is naturally high in magnesium. Magnesium may help with sleep, healthy bones, improved exercise, and blood sugar. Shagbark Hickory trees naturally slough off their bark. To make syrup you do not tap the tree, you just wait for the bark to peel off. They can grow over 100 feet tall and live for over 350 years!

3. What flavors do you have? Original, Vanilla, Caramel, Bourbon, Bourbon Vanilla, and Habanero

4. Do you have syrups that aren't made from Hickory Trees? We do! We have seasonal syrups available, as long as the weather and pollinators cooperate. We do a Wild Blackberry syrup and a Caramel Apple syrup made from our wild apple trees.

5. How do you make the Syrup? Tea and toast! First we clean the bark, then we toast it, and then we make tea! Hickory Syrup goes all the way back to Frontier days. The Native Americans made tea with the bark from the Hickory tree. The settlers then took the tea, added sugar beets, and boiled it down into syrup. We do the same thing, but we use sugar instead of sugar beets. For our flavored syrups we add different ingredients in the boiling process; bourbon, habanero peppers, vanilla flavoring etc..

6. How do you make the Herb Infused Olive oil? All of the herbs we use are grown on our farm and are free from any chemical sprays. We literally grow them with fresh air, sun, and water. We clip the herbs fresh, and then dry them out. Once dried out we put them in a pan on low heat. It's important not to allow the olive oil to get very hot because once olive oil hits 120 degrees it loses 40% of its Polyphenols. (The Polyphenols are part of what makes olive oil so good for you, they are believed to reduce morbidity and/or slow down the development of cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases as well as cancer.) So keeping the heat low, we simmer the herbs, pulling out all of their wonderful flavors. We then allow it to cool, drain the herbs, and bottle it up. We use dry herbs because dried ingredients have no water, preventing C. bot bacteria from growing.

7. How come you don't use Italian olive oil? We lived in Italy for two years and they do have good olive oil. However, the EL Koura Valley in Lebanon has better. The heritage links all the way back to the Phoenicians (1600 BC) who cultivated the wild olive trees and then later brought them to Greece, Italy, and Spain. Lebanese olive oil is world renowned for their excellent olive oil!

8. Is the Italian Herb Olive Oil extra virgin olive oil? Yes!

9. Do you have a return policy? If you receive a broken bottle, or the wrong bottle, let us know within 5 days of receiving it and we'll replace it for free! (so far this hasn't happened, but if it does, we've got you covered.)

10. How long have you been in business? 5 years

11. Are you health department certified? Yes, we are!

12. How long does shipping take? We ship out within 24 hours of receiving your order, unless it's Sunday. Orders are usually received within 5 days. It may take longer if a Sunday or holiday is within that time frame.

13. Can I submit a recipe to you? Yes, please! We love hearing what others are doing with our products and will include it in our recipe section.

14. Where do you get your mushrooms? We have a large grow room. We do not forage for any mushrooms that we use in our products.

15. Why Mushroom Tinctures? Why tinctures and not powder? Tinctures are more easily digestible. They are also a concentrated formula with a higher concentration of the active compounds found in mushrooms giving us the maximum chance of effectiveness.

16. I use mushroom coffee, why would I need the tinctures instead? We think it's great that you're already trying to get the health benefits of mushrooms on a daily basis! The health benefits of mushrooms are found in two different forms within the mushroom. One of these is an alcohol soluble compound, and the other one is a water based compound. Mushroom coffee only has the water based compound, and the water from the coffee pot is not hot enough to extract it. This means you are missing out on a great deal of the benefits of using mushrooms. However, the tinctures can be put in your coffee without any noticeable change in taste.

17. Why don't you have a combination mushroom tincture? Let's say we decided to start eating oatmeal and fruit every morning for breakfast to get the health benefits of each. Then maybe we decided to add some chia and flax seed to it because those are also good for us. Let's assume that the serving size for maximum benefit is 1 cup of each, but instead, we do half a cup of oatmeal, half a cup of fruit, a sprinkle of flax and a shake of chia seeds. Would it still be good for us? Yes, but we're only get a tiny portion of what we really need. The same is true of a combo mushroom tincture. You're getting a little bit, but it isn't the amount the actually makes any difference. We think it's better to concentrate on what you're looking to improve and to get a full dose of that. Just like you wouldn't take a fifth of a vitamin C capsule, we don't believe in selling people a fifth of a mushroom tincture.