Know the difference! Our mexican and indonesian extracts are available in limited quantities. Our vanilla is aged over a year for vodka infused and 18 months for bourbons to ensure a smooth extract and not vanilla flavored alcohol.
Vanilla Extracts are used in many handmade goods, desserts, beverages, candy and more. The delicate, smooth aroma of a quality vanilla extract is like no other. It takes well over a year to make a bottle of single fold vanilla extract. We work with a co-op to bring in sustainable sourced and fair trade verified vanilla beans. It often takes months to receive our beans. We then add the beans to select alcohols like Absolute Vodka and Makers Mark Bourbon to gently extract the vanillin from the beans for over a year before we bottle for your baking and cooking adventures. If anyone tell you it only takes a month or 2 to make vanilla extract, then they are handing you vanilla flavored alcohol and not extract.
How our beans are harvested
Cultivating a quality vanilla bean is an arduous process. It is so labor intensive, that the vanilla bean is the second most expensive spice in the world, just behind saffron. Furthermore, poor weather conditions often lead to global vanilla bean shortages that can boost the cost of vanilla beans even higher than saffron. Vanilla beans are grown in tropical regions around the world, where year-round warm temperatures and sufficient rainfall create soil conditions and climate that are suitable for proper growth. They are actually green (not brown) when they are harvested. They are harvested, cleaned, sweated for flavor, dried, graded, then transported. The entire process from planting the vanilla bean through final packaging can require up to four years, making this little vanilla bean one of the most complicated fruits on our planet. Weather has made this difficult in the past few years. Click here to learn more about the Vanilla Bean Crisis.
Our Bean Selection
Madagascar Vanilla beans are popular for their rich and deep vanilla tones, along with a buttery taste and creamy sensation when properly extracted. A favorite for vanilla ice cream. We extract this bean in Makers mark Bourbon.
Mexican Vanilla Beans, Mexico is where the story of vanilla beans begins. These beans are rich and dark, with spicy and smokey tones, perfect for baked goods, sauces and other desserts. It's also fantastic when a teaspoon is added to seared or glazed salmon or chicken.
The Totonacs of Veracruz Mexico are the first people in the world known to have cultivated vanilla beans. By the 1400's, the Aztecs had begun using vanilla beans to enhance the taste of chocolate. This is the vanilla we use in our chocolate covered honey. we extract in Absolute Vodka for a pure, reach bean flavor.
Indonesian Vanilla Beans from the Papau region, with woody and smokey tones, provide a rich and deep vanilla flavor. The flavor is perfect for darker chocolates, caramels and other rich recipes. we extract in Tito’s Vodka.
Ugandan Vanilla beans grown in Uganda are some of the finest and richest vanilla beans from the planifolia family. The soil and climate of Uganda provide an environment that results in a bold and earthy vanilla taste with hints of figs and raisons, accentuated only by the vanilla bean's natural rich and buttery softer vanilla notes. Ugandan vanilla beans typically contain a higher-than-average vanillin content. This makes them perfect for vanilla extracts along with darker chocolate or strong vanilla-based desserts. We extract in Makers Mark Bourbon,
Our Choice in Spirits
The combinATIONS POSSIBLE WHEN MAKING VANILLA EXTRACT IS NEAR ENDLESS. dIFFERENT BEANS CAN BE USED IN MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF ALCOHOL TO EXTRACT THE VANILIN. tHESE COMBINATIONS WILL ALTER THE FINSIHED PRODUCT OF EXTRACTION, wE TAKE GREAT CARE TO SELECT THE SPIRIT WE THINK WILL SHOWCASE THE VANILLA BEAN IN ITS GREATEST ATTRIBUTES. tHE TYPE OF VANILLA YOU MAY WANT TO USE OFTEN DEPENDS ON WHAT YOUR USING IT FOR. sOME VANILLAS WILL BE STRONGER THAN OTHERS IN FLAVOR. sO MANY CHOICES TO CHOOSE FROM, THESE ARE OUR FAVORITES TO EXTRACT FROM OUR FAVORITE BEANS.
Makers Mark Bourbon
To help create a stronger vanilla that will impact your baking creations, we have found that this bourbon is perfect. It's made with a soft, red winter wheat instead of rye, which softens the bold tones found so often in most bourbons. This smoothness ensures the vanilla has room to shine through and present itself within the complicated overtones of the bourbon. Simply stated, it's a perfect mixture of smokey and sweet and allows for a pure, rich bourbon extract.
Vodka
Vodka is the perfect spirit when you want the finer notes of the bean to shine through. A good vodka will make the extra better with time, more creamy notes, and allows the bean to provide all the flavor. We use absolute in beans that we want a deeper depth in the finished extract and Tito’s when we desire to taste the finer complexities of the bean
New in 2024- An artisanal blend vanilla extract. We love our single bean extracts that highlight the specifics of where each bean was grown. This time, we are taking the best, bold, and unique flavors of a variety of grade A beans with the smoothness of Absolute Vodka. In this blend you will find the Madagascar bean, the original bean with hints of chocolate, undertones of caramel and a subtle vanilla spice. The second bean is the Ugandan with hints of raisins or figs. The vanilla flavor is fruity and bold. The third bean is a Veracruz Mexican bean. A spicey vanilla kick with a mocha aroma with hints of dark chocolate and toffee. The fourth bean is a Jayapura Indonesian with a bourbon-like smokey accent to bring richness to the blend. Stay tuned to when this will be available. It is rich and will add the extra WOW to all of your sweet culinary creations. Click here for the new vanilla!