Why We Make Pure Sorghum

We're in the midst of our sorghum season at Sandhill (today is our fourth cooking, with perhaps 4-5 to go), and we got this letter in the mail today, from Francis Baumli in St Louis—whom none of us have ever met, to our knowledge—written on a typewriter (remember those?):

"Dear People,

I prefer chocolate ice cream to vanilla, but there are times when that familiar (one might even say nostalgic) taste of vanilla ice cream is what I crave, so that becomes my choice over chocolate.

Similarly, I prefer the taste of molasses to sorghum, but sorghum has that unique sweet-sour taste, and sometimes this pure sorghum taste is exactly what I want.

For years there had been a problem. I could not find pure sorghum anywhere. Any jar labeled "sorghum" was actually mixed with molasses, or corn syrup, or that well-camouflaged culprit called "dehydrated cane juice." Born in 1948, in rural Northwest Missouri, sorghum was a constant part (almost a staple) of my youth. But I had done without it for years, and when I would describe its unique taste to friends and family, I think they began viewing me as a sentimental old fool imagining things. So I wanted to buy some pure sorghum and share it with them, partly to convince them that I knew what I was talking about, but mainly to give them a taste of something delicious they had never had.

Then lo and behold! I found your product in a health food store, and all skepticism on the part of friends and family has been put to rest. Their gustatory response to it has been initially tentative but always subsequently enthusiastic.

So thank you for making pure sorghum again available! And for making an old-fashioned food over into a modern-day choice!

P.S. Should it ever behoove your advertising purposes, you can feel free to use this letter, which is nothing less than an enthusiastic endorsement of your product."

Well, we're behooved. What a nice letter! It's been our experience that there is always a market for high-quality food. And today, there is an ever-increasing demand for unadulterated food as well. This is our 32nd year making sorghum. While we've tinkered with our methods of production over the years, we've only made pure sorghum and only grown it organically. And we always will.

Thanks, Francis.