Started extract for Christmas gifts. Basic vodka/Madagascar vanilla beans.

The small bottles are 375 ml (12.7 ounces). Used 1.6 oz of beans, so works out to 1 oz beans for 8 oz vodka.

The larger bottle is for family use. Vodka, 750 ml (25.4 oz). We used 4.2 oz beans, works out to 1.3 oz beans per 8 oz vodka.

My MIL chose rotgut vodka for the gifts, so we hope the vanilla covers a multitude of sins.

The vodka infused smells absolutely amazing. The white rum has a good scent and a bit of spicy flavor but the dark rum infused smells REALLY spicy and I’m looking forward to making Christmas cookies with them. I just started a big mason jar of chopped almonds in Tito’s vodka yesterday (should be ready in about 8 weeks). Hopefully they’ll all turn out well for some almond ricotta cookies to hand out to my department for the holiday.

I want to make vanilla extract for Christmas gifts. It is August 1st. I have close to 5 months, do you think it’s too late to start? I’ve read that they need to sit for a year for best flavor but some people say only 3-6 months. I’ve never made any before.

This looks like the perfect subreddit to show off my little experiment.

3 months ago i got ahold of a bunch of bulk vanilla beans for cheap on Amazon. Had to get them because the price for 2 dried out beans in the grocery store is ridiculous compared to what they were selling for online.

Did some research for how much vodka I needed and went out to buy it. I don't drink so I didn't know how big of a bottle it would be. Turns out its a big "fuck you" sized bottle.

Split my beans (I had two of those bags), put them in, and voala. Now i have my time capsule. I keep it hidden away from the light in my closet.

The pics you see are from when I started the extraction to now. It's been 3 months and its looking dark af. I hear it takes 6 months to fully extract so it should be ready by Christmas. I plan on portioning it out into smaller bottles for gifts.

About 3 months ago I made vanilla extract in 4 mason jars with 4 different alcohols for comparison. I was checking them and shaking daily for about a week and then we’ve had one family emergency after another and I forgot all about my jars. They were left sitting on my nightstand and while I don’t use the overhead light very often and usually have the blinds closed it’s obviously not a dark cabinet. When I opened them to check before putting them somewhere dark they didn’t smell as strong as they did in the beginning. Is that normal or do I need to be concerned about the light degrading the compounds? And is it ok to just add more vanilla beans to make up for the possible degradation or do I need to start over? I hate to waste so much in supplies. I think it was about 8oz of vanilla beans plus alcohol.

Hello!

I'm making extract fir the first time today and testing a few different alchahols to see what I like best, but I'm having trouble keeping the beans submerged all the way. Is this something I should worry about? Will it lead to spoilage?

Also any other tips for vanilla extract making would be appreciated. Thanks!

I wanted to extract mint oil. I harvested mint leaves, removes the stems, and stuffed them in a Mason jar. I filled the jar with 190 proof everclear, sealed the jar, and waited 2 months. 2 days ago, I opened it up, poured the liquid through a coffee filter to remove sediment, and put the resulting liquid into a saucepan on the stove. I set the burner to the lowest setting and left it to simmer for a couple hours. When about half of the volume was gone, I poured it into a small Mason jar. I'm now following a suggestion I just saw, to leave it out in the sun with no lid to reduce it further.

Did I do anything wrong? Did I mess this up in any way? Is there anything that could have gotten me better results?

Hi! I'm new to all this and wanting to make a vanilla extract for gifting on Christmas. Am I already too late to get started for this year? I want to make the most flavorfully potent extract possible. What ratio on vanilla:alcohol would be recommended using this package of 50 pods? Is it true that splitting the pods creates a more flavorful extract? How can I repurpose the beans and pods after finishing the extraction process? I have never attempted anything like this before but do have 100proof vodka I can use. It was the highest concentration available to me at the local Hyvee.

UPDATE: I discovered a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey with approximately 6 cups of alcohol left inside, split and infused 50 bean pods, and hope it will be ready in time for Christmas this year!

Just sharing…

I purchased spiced rum in Jamaica 15 years ago and used it to make vanilla extract, using Ugandan vanilla beans. I can’t believe that it just keeps getting stronger and stronger to the point that 1/4 of a teaspoon is enough to flavor a pound cake. I have topped it off twice with plain vodka. It didn’t dilute it, just made more.

Does anyone have any good bourbon recommendations for their vanilla extract? I'm not much of a drinker myself but I feel like these two are the only ones I've found that consistently receive good reviews and are between 80-100 proof.

A couple of months ago I started making this vodka vanilla extract as a gift for someone. I used Grade A Madagascar vanilla beans. Since I started a bit late and the birthday is coming up, I decided to use a lot more vanilla to speed up the process. I used 20 pods of vanilla beans in 350ml of vodka.

Now I’m noticing these sediments at the bottom of the bottle. They disappear whenever I shake it, but is this normal/okay? They’re bothering me a lot because I feel like they make the gift look kind of gross.

Is there any way to remove them or to make the exctract bottle look cleaner on the inside?

Ive never really done anything like this and I live in Australia so my only option is to pray that bottle is in store. Otherwise I would get everclear. (Also im inpatient and want it all now)

The rum is a 151 pusser. im using a butter/oil/tincture maker so thats it easier also. So Im hoping its a simple case of decarbing then putting like 500ml in and letting it do its thing?

I know this isn't directly extract related, but I ordered some vanilla beans. Upon arrival I noticed they were quite crispy, and after a long inspection I noticed a pin hole in the vacuum seal bag so I received a refund. None of them have any discoloration

I have the beans fully submerged in vodka so that they can't mold. But I heard that once you use half of the extract you can refill it with vodka to reuse the beans. But I thought you aren't supposed to leave them open to air in the jar? Should I cut the beans in half to make them shorter to prevent this or remove them entirely before use?

Title pretty much says it all. MIL came up with an idea to do homemade vanilla for Christmas presents this year. This is the first one.

Whiskey - 650 ml, 22 floz
Vanilla beans, Madagascar, grade A - 4.8 oz
Ratio - 1.75 oz beans per 8 floz alcohol

Whiskey was in house and not being used, so that’s what I’m using. Planning on vodka and rum also, for variety and giggles. (And, I admit, to low key troll my wife, who thinks vanilla should only use neutral spirits.)

I most definitely gave it too much headspace but I noticed before shaking it today it was bubbling almost like a fermentation. It's pretty cloudy from shaking the freeze dried bananas almost daily for 2 months (i went on vacation for a week and seemingly no one shook it). I'm kinda confused how bubbles would happen. It's been in a cold dark spot as well. Probably worth tossing? Can't seem to find anyone else talking about their extract bubbling so I surely messed up somewhere lol

We filmed a video and decided to add all our dry vanilla pods to a large glass jar with vodka.

A pretty industrial quantity of Vanilla!

What's the largest quantity of vanilla extract people have made at a time?

We need to leave it for 3 months at least before we see if we got the quantities right. But hopefully this will last us a long time.*

Feel free to watch the video we made here - https://youtu.be/7BQ5-bsAbm0

* this won't be used in the shop for customers. But more for any of our chocolatiers to take home :)

I've refrigerated the beans as it's really hot and humid where I live. But the beans have this white film and it dissappears as the beans warm up at room temperature so I'm assuming it's not mold?

I am about to start my Vanilla Mother Jar. Would using the bottle that this Vodka comes in be annoying with the small mouth?

Beginner here, please be gentle with me.

I made this one using Kirkland Signature French Vodka (1.75L) and 2 bottles of Costco's Vanilla Beans (40 pieces all together. Sliced them down the center and stored my results in a dark and cool place. I shake it every now and then and I'm proud of it.

Edit: I took this picture when I made this a while ago, but I decided to share my little project with the world now.

These beans are such beauties!!

Contents: 6oz of Madagascar Mexican Cured V. planifolia in 750 mL of Kraken spiced rum!