Where does molasses come from?
Although the word molasses is used for at least three different things, I believe you are asking about the molasses which is an edible syrup used in cooking (this is the food and drink section not agriculture). That type of molasses, of which there are several variations, comes from the sap of the sugar cane plant. After harvesting the cane, the juice or sap is boiled to concentrate it. Then it is cooled and the sugar crystals removed. This process is repeated to get as much sugar out as possible. Some of the liquids after each boiling are used for other purposes, such as syrup, and are called molasses. The last batch, with the most flavor and vitamins, is called black strap molasses. One of the most famous and historical uses of molasses is for the production of rum. Sugar beet molasses tastes bad and is used for animal feed.
Molasses or treacle is a thick, syrupy derivative of the juice of the sugarcane plant or the processing of sugar beet. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço. The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or beet, the amount of sugar extracted, and the method of extraction.
“From sugar cane” is the short answer, but then you probably knew that much already. Once upon a time, all sugar was made from sugar cane, the by-product of which is molasses. Today over half the table sugar we Americans consume is refined from sugar beets, which yield no molasses (or none you’d ever want to eat, let’s put it that way), but here in a nutshell is how sugar cane is refined into crystal sugar and various molasseses… molessessesses… molass—, oh hell sugar syrups and such. Sugar exists in sugar cane as a sucrose-heavy juice, one that sugar makers extract by crushing the stalks in a press. The juice that emerges contains all sorts of non-sucrose items like water, long-chain sugars, proteins, and assorted bits of organic matter. These are the various “impurities” that the sugar refining process removes in various steps. It all begins by heating the juice with a small amount of lime, which coagulates most of more conspicuous impurities so they can be skimmed off. Once that
