It's Vanilla Time

[MissS]

October is the month to begin the harvest of the vanilla beans. I am excited to be making my own vanilla extract and vanilla paste for the first time. I will be trying a few different liquors to extract the vanilla.

Vodka
White Rum
Bourbon
Spiced Rum or Brandy

Does anyone here make their own vanilla extract and if so what brands of liquor work best for you? Any tips or tricks that you have to share?

I really enjoy a bit of vanilla paste in my morning coffee. Some people use glycerin while others use agave or corn syrup as the base. I will be using glycerin with fresh vanilla beans as I don't have any old ones. There is not a lot of information about making this and the recipes vary quite a bit. Does anyone have a tried and true method of making vanilla paste?

I have the beans. I have the jars. I have some liquor. I'm excited to get going.

[GoDawgs]

Wow! This IS exciting! What kind of vanilla orchid do you have and how long did it take to make beans once you planted your orchid? I found this article about curing harvested vanilla beans. Sounds like a lot of work.

https://www.vanillabeankings.com/blogs/ ... illa-beans

I'll be really interested in hearing about your progress!

[Vanman]

Please post a picture of your vanilla orchid, or did you buy beans?

[MissS]

I'm so sorry for the misunderstanding. It is vanilla harvest time and I picked my beans off the the shelves at Costco. They are only available for a short time while they are still fresh. It's a great deal, 20 Madagascar beans for $9.99. They are large and plump, not all dried out. You open the jar and the whole room smells amazing. I'm really excited to be starting this project. I do have lots to learn though.

@GoDawgs Thank you for the great article. It was very informative.

[worth1]

I was wondering how you were growing a tropical plant indoors.
Now I know.
Vanilla is yet another plant that comes from the Americas.
A 12 year old African slave gets credit for learning how to pollinate the blooms by hand.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Al ... 0Albius%20(c.,vanilla%20orchids%20quickly%20and%20profitably.

[GoDawgs]

Wow, that's an amazing price for vanilla beans! I just checked Sam's (not a Costco member) and they didn't have any. After reading how beans are harvested and all the steps that go into it I can understand why real vanilla is expensive.

[MissS]

Wow, that's an amazing price for vanilla beans!

I know, right. I love vanilla bean paste. I had been online looking at vendor's trying to decide where to buy some beans from. They are expensive and you really don't know what your are getting until it comes to your door. I went to Costco and they had vanilla paste in. Of course I bought some. I had forgotten something and went back the next day and there was a whole display of vanilla products including these fresh beautiful beans. At that price, I stocked up on a few.

I learned some more last night while browsing the net. Vodka is what is used to make vanilla extract as we all know it. White rum can be used too. This will take a year before it's ready to use. If you are using a dark spirit, then the extraction time will be over 2 years.

Between the price, time and effort of the beans, the cost of the booze and the time to extract, I now can understand why vanilla is so expensive. Homemade is supposed to be so much better, so I am going to give it a try.

[Kurt]

file:///var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments/26/06/D3A4F105-651B-4793-A663-474D3462543C/IMG_0103.jpeg
We have these vanilla beans crawling up our lychee tree.Takes years to gather enough.The plantations they gots telephone pole sized vines.

[Kurt]

IMG_0103.jpeg

[MissS]

@Kurt They are gorgeous! Do the blossoms have a fragrance?

[Kurt]

If you put your nose to it yes.I imagine at the plantations during flowering it gets fragrant.

[worth1]

I just looked up the price of vanilla beans from the fiesta brand.
9 something for 2 beans at HEB.
That's the low end price I imagine.
The vanilla extract I buy is the Watkins brand at close to 10 dollars for 8 ounces.
I had 3 brothers the youngest one was 14 years older than me.
He was an alcoholic from day one.
Got several DUIs.
My Mom told me he would drink vanilla extract to get drunk at age 14.
He lived with his grand parents because my father couldn't deal with him.

It's expensive but you as a minor can walk into any grocery store and buy extract with alcohol in it.
They also sell bourbon vanilla extract as well.

The high end vanilla bean paste costs almost 17 dollars for 4 ounces.
I really can't taste vanilla like some people do but I still use it.

[MissS]

@worth1 It's rare to find vanilla made with bourbon in the store. It's usually homemade. It's confusing because it will say Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla. Which means that the beans are from the city of Bourbon in Madagascar. It's just vanilla. I have Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla beans from Costco that I am using. I will be making a small batch using bourbon to extract the vanilla. I would also like to get some Mexican and Ugandan vanilla beans to experiment with. They each have their own distinct flavor profile.

[worth1]

I've seen a couple of videos where at least them said the 50% alcohol ratio was best.
And to let the beans soak for a year.
I'm still soaking my raisins in 100 proof bourbon and another batch in dark rum.

I reality nothing homemade is a true commercial extract unless you have the equipment.
It's a tincture.I had dried hot peppers soaking in bourbon for close to 10 years before I ran out.
I tend to make stuff like this and forget about it.

[MissS]

12-18 months for light spirits. 24-48 using dark spirits. The longer the better. Your 10 year peppers must have been amazing.

[Homegrwoninillinois]

October is the month to begin the harvest of the vanilla beans. I am excited to be making my own vanilla extract and vanilla paste for the first time. I will be trying a few different liquors to extract the vanilla.

Vodka
White Rum
Bourbon
Spiced Rum or Brandy

Does anyone here make their own vanilla extract and if so what brands of liquor work best for you? Any tips or tricks that you have to share?

I really enjoy a bit of vanilla paste in my morning coffee. Some people use glycerin while others use agave or corn syrup as the base. I will be using glycerin with fresh vanilla beans as I don't have any old ones. There is not a lot of information about making this and the recipes vary quite a bit. Does anyone have a tried and true method of making vanilla paste?

I have the beans. I have the jars. I have some liquor. I'm excited to get going.

I have made my own vanilla. Someone left a bottle of fancy rum long ago at our house so I chose to use that and kept the cost low. If I were to choose I would probably go with vodka in the future.

[worth1]

Not all vodka is the same

Some of it's horrible and nasty tasting.
For a good reasonably priced vodka with a neutral taste I highly recommend SKYY vodka.
Less than 30 dollars for 1.75 L
Quadruple distilled and triple filtered.

[MissS]

Any liquor that is above 70% alchohal is good to make extracts with. 80% is better. Yes they want you to use a high quality. Most use Absolute vodka. I agree that Sky is smooth and years ago I would use a bottle cutter and make myself pretty blue glasses. I will be using Kettle One as it doesn't bother my stomach as some do. I will also be using Barcardi rum both spiced and white as well as one of my nice bourbons. I haven't decided which bourbon to use yet. I have had a bottle of cognac that has been in the cupboard for years, so that is an option too. It sounds like I will be making lots of vanilla once I finish processing tomato seeds.

[worth1]

My first time drinking vodka I turned into a jungle ape.
I was 18 years old almost 19.
I drank the hole pint straight.
I was used to moonshine.
Everyone was flabbergasted.
It was the night before I went to MCRD San Diego.