My incredible cousin Glenda who live in Malaysia came to the states recently and she came bearing gifts. Vanilla beans directly from Bali! I knew they were good beans when I could smell them through the double wrapped-sealed in a ziploc bag packaging.
Of course the first thing I made was vanilla extract. It's a pretty basic ratio. 15-20 beans per 750mL of 80 proof alcohol (bourbon or vodka). The more pricey the alcohol, the better quality the extract. In other words, Monarch just isn't going to cut it, sorry!
Directions are simple. Slice beans down the center, put into bottle, seal, shake around daily for a week, and then weekly for a month or so. I let mine sit for about 6 months before using though some people say they use it as soon as six weeks. It takes some time, but it is SO worth it!
The rest of the beans are going to make my yogurt taste amaaazziinnggg! Thanks, Glenda!
Interesting! I'm clueless to this..so does it end up turning brown? I've been buying just the Kirkland vanilla from Costco but it seems to have too much of an alcohol smell for me
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