Vanilla Extract- 3 Months Later

Hello Vanilla Lovers!

This post is to follow-up to my original post 3 months ago titled "Vanilla Extract-a-Palooza." To recap- I had 7 different types of vanilla beans, and made 7 different types of extract.  The original photo looked like this:

And 3 months later the same bottles look like this:

Unfortunately I wasn't able to duplicate the lighting of the first batch- but I'm going to try to get new photos at a different time of day for documentation purposes.

About 2 months ago I added in slightly more vodka to fill the bottles completely to the top as a slight amount evaporated during the first month, leaving the tips of the beans slightly uncovered.

As you see all bottles got much darker,  but the Tongan vanilla was the least darkened in the 3 month time period.  The darkest extract was the Madagascar vanilla bean.

And here is the final packaging we gave to family members as gifts:

Vanilla Extract-a-Palooza

Oh Vanilla, how do I love thee. Let me count the ways... oh wait, I mean the beans.

Ok, enough cheeziness, on to the serious topic of Vanilla Extract. After a discussion with some acquaintances about which type of vanilla bean is best for making Vanilla Extract, I decided to order a variety pack of beans from the online company Beanilla.com. I received my Vanilla Bean Sampler and the following bean types were included: Bourbon, Indian, Mexican, Mexican Organic, Madagascar, Tahitian and Tongan.

I split each bean lengthwise, bottled them in sets of 3 pods per bottle, then covered them with Vodka. The typical bean-to-vanilla ratio is 1 Cup of Alcohol for every 3 Vanilla Beans. Sometimes I'll add a fourth bean, but 3 beans seems to make a nicely darkened Vanilla Extract. Due to this experiment, in about 3 months I will have 7 different types of extract and hopefully I'll be able to figure out which bean I like best for baking and cooking!

Here is a bit of additional information for those looking to make their own Vanilla Extract- you can try different types of alcohol: Brandy, Rum or Vodka. Others I have spoken with about making their own extract indicated that they will add 2 tablespoons of Dark Rum to their Vodka or Brandy-based extract for a richer flavor and a darker color.

Additionally, once you have used your extract, you can refill with vodka up to three times- the Vanilla Bean Pods will continue to produce a vanilla flavor- each time the vanilla must be placed in a dark area (being shaken up every couple of weeks), for 2-3 months to infuse.  Once the beans are no longer good for Vanilla extract, you can dry them off and put them in a container of sugar to make Vanilla Sugar (which can be used for any baking recipe that requires sugar and it infuses a nice vanilla flavor into the recipe!).

ETA: I was asked where I got my cute vanilla bottles so I wanted to share that with you all! SKS Bottle & Packaging  was the least expensive online retailer for similar bottles. They are of high quality, and their customer service was exceptional. They have a large variety of bottles (including Amber and Blue glass bottles which I'll probably try next time- but I wanted to see the color changes which is why I ordered the clear bottles).

This post has been Continued HERE... (after 3 months of brewing)