Vanilla makers - what was the source on Amazon for pods?

These are the beans I got from Amazon. "OliveNation madagascar vanilla Beans 8 oz" by S&W, they are $31.94. I made the rum vanilla that everyone was talking about last November. I just started using it. I didn't think it was ready in December so I let it "cook" a little longer.

The first time I made vanilla, I got my beans from Beanilla.com - the vanilla was wonderful. The last time I bought beans I got them from Vanilla Products on EBay. The quality is good and they're less expensive than Beanilla. I've got several batches brewing now for Christmas gifts and they smell (and taste) fantastic!

I'll buy from either of these suppliers again.

ETA:  Vanilla Products sells be weight and by [HASH] of beans.

Thanks for the reminder. I want to do this.

Where can I find a recipe for vanilla rum ? I got a kilo of beautiful fresh vanilla from my sister in Madagaskar - we had some rum there when we visited in December - so would love to try making my own ! Thanks


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Just bought a batch from Beanilla. Maybe I should try to make vanilla rum, in addition to the extract.

I got my recipe from here Vanilla Recipe

Out of a pound of beans, how many 4 ounce gift bottles of vanilla are you able to produce?

I've made large amounts of vanilla several times now.  I found out the first time that I was not using enough beans.  My vanilla didn't have anywhere near the "strength" of commercial vanilla.  So I did some research.  The best way to get the most flavor out of the beans is to chop them up into little pieces (rather than just slit the bean), and to approximate commercial strength vanilla, you need to use 8 beans per cup of vodka or other liquor that you are infusing.  It is a boatload of beans, but the vanilla is fantastic.  Also, I myself do not think a few months is long enough to steep the brew, although that's what all of the recipes say.  I like it to have a really robust vanilla flavor, and my experience has been that it takes a year to achieve that.  I start my batches of vanilla right after Christmas!

Yes, I make mine right in the big vodka bottles (I use one extra empty bottle so that there is room in each one for all of the beans).  And yes, I strain mine at the end, using coffee filters.  With the chopped bean method, I think you'd have to strain it.  After straining, I dispense it into the cute bottles and add fancy tags and all that jazz.  You also need to shake the vanilla every few days while it's brewing, and it's a lot easier to shake 5 half gallons of vodka than a bunch of little bottles! 

Just looking at Beanilla now. What type of beans do you suggest?

I have no interest in making my own vanilla, but do you think the bottles of vanilla and other extract are better from beanilla.com than the grocery store? If so, which vanilla should I get they have so many varieties? 

With the pound of beans that I got from Vanilla Products USA, there were 168 beans. For 4 oz of vodka, you would need 4 beans so you could get 42 bottles. I always add one or two extra beans to the bottles when I make them so I would get a bit less than 42 bottles.

When I made the vanilla extract as gifts a few years ago, I made 14-4 oz bottles, 4-8 oz bottles, and 1-16 oz bottle. Then I used some of the beans to make vanilla sugar. I made 15 pint size jars of vanilla sugar (I used 1 3/4 cup sugar and 1 bean) and 2 quart size jars (I used 3 cups sugar and 2 beans). I had beans left over so I just put a bunch is a quart size mason jar and filled it with vodka. I use that bottle to refill my 16 oz jar of vanilla when it gets low. I just add more vodka to the quart jar whenever I empty any out.

For my vanilla sugar, when the jar gets half empty I add more sugar and once in a while I throw another bean in there (I just leave the other beans in there).