A few years ago I bought some store bought vanilla beans. They were super dried out and about $9 for two single beans! It made me wonder if I could find another more affordable place to buy them, especially since I wanted to experiment with making my own homemade vanilla extract. After a brief facebook search, I stumbled upon Indri’s Vanilla Bean Group (formerly the Vanilla Bean Co-op). I bought my first order of Madagascar beans and followed their suggested ratio of beans to alcohol and eagerly waited over a year to test it out.

I was so pleased with the taste of my own pure vanilla extract that I also started extract from Papua New Guinea beans as well, this time using rum rather than vodka, for a more robust flavour. Which brings me to the new addition to my vanilla family, which is Indonesian Vanilla beans. This time I decided to use The Kraken spiced rum, as it was suggested to be a good pairing for these particular beans. Just like the others, I will let these beans steep in the rum for 12-18 months before testing it out. As per Indri’s Vanilla Bean Group, I used 2oz of vanilla beans per 1 cup of alcohol, as I wanted this extract to be a “double fold”, or double strength batch. If following the suggestion on a single fold batch, you would use 1oz of vanilla beans per 1 cup of alcohol.

The process is very simple, you cut the vanilla beans in half and then split them down the centre to allow for the alcohol to extract the vanilla flavour. Once all of the beans are in the bottle, put the lid back on, label your jar with it’s “birth date” so you know when you started making it, and tuck it away somewhere that will be free from direct sunlight and heat. Every once in awhile, give the bottle a little shake to help move the beans and vanilla caviar around and then try your best to wait patiently until it’s ready!

Homemade Double Fold Vanilla Extract

An easy way to make pure, homemade vanilla extract. The hardest part is waiting for it to be done!

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Prep Time 20 mins

Steeping Time 365 d

Total Time 365 d 20 mins

Course Extract

Servings 1 750ml bottle

Ingredients

  

• 1 750ml Bottle of rum, spiced run, bourbon or vodka
• 6oz Vanilla beans Indonesian, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea

Instructions

 

• In order to help speed up the extracting process, work your way through your vanilla beans by cutting each in half and then down the middle.
• Once cut, add each bean to your jar of alcohol, until all beans are inside.
• Label your bottle with your extracts "date of birth" and tuck it away where it won't be exposed to direct sunlight.
• Give the bottle a little shake about once a week to help move the beans and vanilla caviar around.
• Let your extract steep for 12-18 months for optimal vanilla flavour.

Notes

As a general rule for making vanilla extract, you want to use 1oz beans per 1 cup of alcohol. This will get you vanilla extract but it is known as a "single fold" extract and may not be very strong.

The recipe above is for "double fold" extract, as I used 2oz of beans per 1 cup of alcohol. This will get you a much stronger, deeper vanilla flavour once it's done extracting.

Keyword extract, homemade vanilla, rum, vanilla, vanilla bean, vanilla extract, vodka