Madagascar Vanilla Beans (Each) Spices Inc.

If you love the aroma and taste of vanilla, but have never tried whole vanilla beans then you are in for a real treat! Vanilla beans are more fragrant and robust than extracts and top grade vanilla beans are bursting with a deep aroma and are a bit oily to the touch. The best beans are pliable enough to bend without breaking and their color is a dark brown to almost black. There are varying degrees of taste and fragrance differences between vanilla beans depending on where they are harvested. Our highest quality Bourbon Vanilla Beans come from the island of Madagascar and feature a rich, creamy flavor. These are the most popular of the vanilla beans and they are longer and have a thicker skin than the Thaitian Vanilla Beans and they also provide more seeds. Helpful hints: Vanilla beans are so potent and full of flavor, that many cooks will use them more than once. All you have to do is rinse them off and let them dry and you can use them again later, or you can grind them up to be added to recipes calling for vanilla. You may also find that when using our top grade Madagascar beans that after a while they develop crystals (which looks a bit like white fur). This is actually an indicator that the beans have a high amount of natural vanillin and are of excellent quality. This is a natural process so you can actually use these crystals – they’re chockfull of flavor! Use with apples, eggs, fish, ice cream, melon, milk, peaches, pears and strawberries. Vanilla Beans works well in combination with cardamom, chili, cinnamon and cloves. There are approximately 8 Vanilla Beans per ounce and each vanilla bean is approximately 7″ to 8″ long.