Our Nyanza Vanilla is grown in the hills around Nyanza (aka Lake Victoria) in Tanzania, where the altitude, rich soil and temperate climate produce an especially rich, sweet vanilla.
This Grade A Nyanza Vanilla comes in a bamboo tube or plastic container with an inner pouch or pouches that keep the vanilla pods fresh. Cut the pods open and scrape the seeds into custards, ice cream or other rich desserts (use the empty pods for vanilla sugar!). Or infuse them with alcohol of your choice for homemade extract.
*Recommended by The Washington Post*
Kagera, Tanzania
Sun-dried during the day, cured in wooden boxes overnight
Vanilla planifolia, whole pod, dried
Toasted Hazelnut • Dates • Tannins
- Split, scrape and add to your ice cream base, fruit jams or puddings before cooking
- Drop a vanilla pod into your favorite spirit, then add sugar and instant coffee to make a homemade Tia Maria
- Bury spent pods in sugar to make vanilla sugar
Vanilla is the fruit of a flowering vine. It takes as long as a decade for a vine to begin to produce fruit, and the white orchid flowers must be pollinated by hand. The pods grow in small bunches like bananas, and they take 6-9 months to ripen. After harvesting, they're cured in wooden boxes, where they turn from green to brown and develop their characteristic rich, complex aroma.
In a climate and terroir similar to that of Madagascar, they develop a deep, rich aroma and flavor. We prefer the vine-ripened pods (standard pods are often picked slightly underripe as a shortcut) for their stronger, sweeter, more concentrated flavor.
In the photos, you can see the nearly-ripe vanilla pods, the vanilla flower, and the vanilla vines.
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United StatesPatience
The pieces are soaking in rum and nesting in fine sugar and I’ve not yet disturbed their flavoring work....but anticipate good results.
United StatesExcellent Vanilla
The flavor of this vanilla is superb. I used some to flavour rum. And some in baking. Just delicious results.
United StatesMy favorite vanilla
The aroma of these vanilla beans is my favorite. Once I've used the beans, I save every last shred to add to my extract bottles. The updated vacuum sealed packaging is great for keeping the beans fresh and moist!
United StatesAmazingly tasty vanilla beans!
Very heady vanilla aroma! I ended up using half as much vanilla bean as I usually would and my ice cream came out with a delicious vanilla taste
United Statesvanilla
Having fun using them to make homemade vanilla