Vanilla Extract Project

he's holding beans which are on a vine that they hang on a tree for the shade

When we were in Tahiti, we visited a couple of vanilla "farms".  To us, they weren't like any farms we know - they were very small!  More about how vanilla grows in the next post.

Vanilla beans are very expensive and now we know why!  The process takes a few years of the right weather and is labor intensive.  We were able to buy them at a much better price there and they were so fresh!  What a difference compared to ones we can buy in stores here!  

The man (above) giving us our tour at one of the farms told us to stick a bunch of beans in a bottle of vodka and you could have great vanilla extract and keep it going for years!  So I came home and Googled "making vanilla extract".  Very interesting.  I found a site, Beanilla, to buy some cute 8 oz. bottles and a few more beans because I had decided this would make great Christmas gifts!  

I bought a bunch of vodka - some people say to use the good stuff, some say to use cheap.  The bottles came and I washed and sterilized them.

The Tahitian vanilla beans are much bigger and wider with lots more "caviar" than other beans.  You can see the difference here!  The one on the right is a Madagascar Bourbon vanilla bean.

Beanilla says that the Tahitian beans are their favorite and that they have tones of ripe fruit.  I did a mix of mostly the Tahitian beans I bought there and Madagascar Bourbon beans.  Beanilla says the Madagascar beans are superior with a rich, dark and creamy flavor well suited for baking and drinks.

I split the beans, put them in the bottles and covered them with vodka.  You're supposed to keep them in a cool, dark place and shake it once a week.  I found some labels online that I could personalize a little, and made some tags with my stamping supplies. 

 I was excited about these gifts.  Hope it turns out good and everybody likes it.  There are lots of comments on the Internet from people who have made it, love it and don't buy it any more.  Lots of people put beans in a whole bottle of vodka which is what  I'm going to get started for us soon!