When my family visited Alaska a few years ago, I became completely enamored with spruce—spruce beer, spruce jam, spruce cookies. When I saw that one of my favorite jam brands, Pen & Cob, made spruce syrup, I couldn't resist adding it to Relish's lineup.

With notes of woodsy evergreen and bright citrus, spruce syrup is a unique addition to your pantry, and it's one that's surprisingly versatile too. I like adding it as a conversation starter when I'm putting together a cheese board, it's excellent in coffee and cocktails, and you can drizzle it over fruit, pancakes, and waffles just like you would maple syrup. Pen & Cob also recommends using it as a glaze for chicken and pork. Delightful!

Each spring, during Maine's fleeting spruce tip season, Pen & Cob heads into the forests of Downeast Maine to gather the tender, bright green tips that emerge for only a few short weeks each year. Freshly harvested spruce tips are brought back to their farm kitchen, where they are slowly macerated in organic brown sugar using a traditional process that draws out their natural oils. The result is a small-batch culinary syrup unlike anything you've tasted before.

• 5 fl oz