Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla

Bourbon Vanilla Products from Madagascar

Many of our premium vanilla beans, pure vanilla extracts, and vanilla powder are made from delicate Bourbon Madagascar vanilla beans, straight from the islands of Madagascar. Whole Bourbon beans (named for the Isle de Bourbon where the French first planted the vines) have a smooth, rich, sweet flavor and are the thinnest vanilla bean variety grown.

Bourbon Madagascar strains are considered by connoisseurs to be the best you can buy. The unmistakable fragrance and taste of vanilla is warm, delicate, rich, woodsy, spicy, and sweet. These qualities combine to make vanilla a sweet spice that supports, balances, mellows and adds a bit of depth to all kinds of dishes. And while you find a bottle of vanilla in nearly every cook's pantry, the extract's flavor intensity can vary widely depending upon its origins, purity (pure VS synthetic) and alcohol content. Vanilla, or, to be more precise, vanilla beans are one of the world's most labor-intensive crops.

The beans are the fruit of a climbing orchid (vanilla planifolia) that is indigenous to Mexico and Central America. The three-year growth period from planting to maturity is just the beginning of the long journey toward becoming bean, extract or powder. Every single planifolia flower is pollinated by hand after which growth continues for nine more months until the green seedpod (the bean) develops. Farmers closely monitor individual plants into the next year. They hand-harvest daily since each bean ripens at its own pace and extreme care must be taken to ensure they do not become over-mature and split. Finally, a crucial six-month curing process gives the beans their heavenly perfume and flavor.

Add our pure Madagascar-Bourbon vanilla extracts to all your pastry recipes including Italian pizzelle, torte, biscotti and hundreds of other confections. Panna cotta, semifreddo, poached pears, and gelato all taste better when they're baked with Bourbon beans.