What’s better than making your own homemade vanilla extract, and with the best type of vanilla, which is Tahitian vanilla! For the past few years now, I have been gifting our friends and family with homemade Tahitian vanilla extract. Since the Holiday season is at our doorstep, I thought to share with you how I do my own Tahitian vanilla extract, so you can also gift it to your loved ones. Who doesn’t love a good bottle of homemade vanilla extract? Literally NO ONE I know! Even the ones who don’t cook and bake on a regular basis will appreciate this thoughtful homemade gift.
Since our trip in French Polynesia, I fell in love with Tahitian vanilla. The distinctive and subtle floral taste elevates any dish. That’s when I decided to make my homemade extract and to gift them. This became my favorite to-do task in preparation for the Holiday season, with some Christmas music in the background and hot coco. Try it…it’s truly relaxing!
What you need:
- Tahitian vanilla pods: Tahitian vanilla beans cannot be found easily at the grocery stores and when they are available, they can be pricey. When I depleted my stash that I bought in French Polynesia, I buy them from Native Vanilla off Amazon (not sponsored). I love their quality.
- Unflavored vodka: Some people use rum, brandy or bourbon to make the extracts. However, these spirits do not have a neutral taste and therefore, extracts made from them cannot be use for all recipes. I personally find that using unflavored vodka brings the best out of the Tahitian vanilla flavor.
- Clean swing top or extract bottles: Make sure the bottles you are using is airtight so the alcohol doesn’t evaporate.
HOW TO MAKE TAHITIAN VANILLA EXTRACT
- If your pods are longer than your bottles, you can trim the tip so that they fit into your bottle. If you are using a 2-ounce bottle, you can cut your pods in half.
- With a knife, carefully slit each vanilla pod in half lengthwise starting ½ inch from the tip.
- Separate the slit so that your pod has an opening. This will facilitate your beans to disperse into the alcohol to get top quality extract from your vanilla pods.
- Insert your pods in your bottle and fill with vodka. To have maximum flavor, for each 2 ounces, you will require 1 vanilla pod. I have 4-oz bottles so I used 2 pods for each bottle.
- Shake once weekly to disperse the beans and help with the coloring. For your extract to be ready for usage, the brewing time should be at least 4 weeks. This is why I usually prepare my vanilla extract bottles at the latest by the beginning of November so that when it is time to gift, they are ready to use. In addition, they have this beautiful extract color!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What’s the difference between grade A and B vanilla pods? Grade A vanilla beans have more moisture and are recommended for direct culinary use. They are also more expensive whereas grade B pods have less moisture and are less pricey. For making extracts, you can save the extra bucks and get the grade B pods because the brewing will remoisturize them.
Once the bottle is finished, can I re-use the pods? Absolutely! When the bottle is finished, you can refill with more vodka and wait 4 weeks before using again. As long as there are beans left in your bottle, you can re-use the pods until they are depleted or you no longer smell the vanilla. The pods from the vanilla extract bottle you see in my recipes pictures have been in use since 2019!
How long can this be kept for? Your extract can be kept for a very long time, meaning indefinitely!
I have leftover endings and trims of vanilla pods. What can I do with them? If you had to trim your pods, do not discard the snipped parts! If your end is about 1 inch long, you can add them into your sugar container to give delicious vanilla flavor to your morning coffee or tea! This is what I do and it smells SO GOOD! You can also keep those snipped ends and use them in a vanilla sauce.
Equipment
- Swing top or extract bottles
Ingredients
- Vokda
- Tahitian vanilla pods
Instructions
- Optional: If your pods are longer than your bottles, you can trim the vanilla pod so that it fits into your bottle. If you are using a 2-ounce bottle, you can cut your pods in half.
- With a knife, carefully slit your vanilla pods in half lengthwise starting ½ inch from the top.
- Insert the pod into the bottle and fill with vodka. For every 2 ounces of vodka, you will require 1 vanilla pod.
- Shake once weekly to disperse the beans and help with the coloring. The vanilla extract will be ready for use after it has brewed for 4 weeks.
