Tony Rollie leaned over the large burner in his driveway to look at the boiling maple sap he and his two friends, Tony Geannakouri and Dennis Bentzin, collected. He tried to estimate the amount of the maple syrup that would come from the batch.

The three coworkers — who work as feeder operators at Smyth Company — decided to start making The Three Feeders Maple Syrup this year, so they bought a book and watched a lot of videos on YouTube.

“Your idea sparked my interest,” Rollie said to Geannakouri. “Denny’s always wanted to do it and I knew [Geannakouri had], and then once I get an idea in my head I get kind of crazy. We started doing more than we planned.”

The idea came about for no reason other than a fun hobby to try and the promise of yummy maple syrup. Geannakouri had made syrup before when he was about 10 years old with his uncle, and had done it on his own about three years ago.

“Just a hobby, something to do,” Geannakouri said.

“What else is there to do on a Sunday in early spring?” Rollie added.

“It’s delicious,” Bentzin laughed.

The group started tapping the trees for sap about three weeks ago, although they started working on the project earlier than that. The trio started collecting pieces for the large burner they would use to burn the water out of the sap in January. The entire process cost them about $450, a bit over budget but still acceptable in their eyes.

“We’ve been building the cooker for a few months,” Rollie said.

“Our cooker, the barrel part came from YouTube, just kind of getting the idea,” he added. “And then pretty much we had to make the barrel to fit the pot that we had. It wasn’t all like starting out with a blueprint, we just made it how we could.”

They’ve also been hitting the books — and mostly YouTube — to find out as much as possible about making maple syrup, even visiting a large operation in Waterville that makes syrup, which is also where they purchased the jars to hold their finished product. So far, they have made about a gallon’s worth of syrup and they’re not slowing down until the warm weather prevents the sap from flowing. Rollie said recent warm weather hasn’t been good for sap collectors.

“You want it to freeze at night and warm up and be sunny during the day,” he said, noting temperatures at 40 degrees during the day and in the upper 20s at night would be ideal.

The trees they tap are in several areas, including some at Geannakouri’s home, some near the airport in Austin, and the majority south of Johnson Floral. As the three men rushed to pour the sap out of the large burner and into a smaller burner, Rollie explained that if overcooked, the syrup turns into maple sugar, much like their first batch did.

“It can go real bad real fast,” Rollie laughed.

He noted that despite their first batch going awry, the sugar still tasted good.

“We’re just doing the same thing in this pot now,” Rollie explained, pointing toward the smaller burner. Although this makes it take longer, the smaller burner helps the maple syrup makers watch so it doesn’t overcook.

Rollie has two sons, ages 6 and 3, who were excited to help collect the sap, at least the first few times. Geannakouri also tried to get his daughters involved in the syrup making process, but they also did not find it as exciting as their dad. Rollie’s wife, however, has accepted the large burner that sits in the driveway and is stored in the garage.

“She thinks it’s kind of neat,” Rollie said. “She’s not a big fan of the kids around playing so we’ve got to keep them away from that, because it’s hot.”

The neighbors are still getting used to seeing the burner, though.

“We get a lot of stares from people driving by,” Geannakouri laughed.

It takes about nine to 10 hours to make one gallon of syrup. The trio hopes there will still be sap to collect in the next week and aim to make another batch or two with the rest of the sap season. Geannakouri said his favorite part of the hobby is the final product and coming away with something tasty to show for the hard work.

“I already gave some to my mom,” he said with a smile.

Bentzin’s main regret is not starting the hobby earlier.

“I wish I would have done it years ago,” he said.

Rollie said for anyone who wants to make a small batch of syrup for themselves, they likely only need a small burner versus the large one. The trio plans to expand the hobby next year and maybe add another burner. They tossed around the idea of selling syrup at the farmer’s market, but Rollie doesn’t want the process to become a large operation.

“That’s a job,” he said. “That’d probably take the fun out.”

This isn’t the first hobby the men have taken on. Geannakouri and Rolli have brewed their own beer for about four years, and the trio is hoping to get bees for a beehive this spring.