Pompona Vanilla is an extremely rare species of vanilla, and ours is wild-harvested in the Peruvian Amazon. You've never had vanilla like this before. Just like our wildly popular Nyanza Vanilla Powder, this is made simply from fresh whole pods that are ground into an intensely flavorful, easy-to-use powder. There are 2–3 whole vanilla pods in each jar of powder! And, it's ready right out of the jar—no chopping, scraping or waiting around for extract required.
What makes the powder special is its powerful, rich flavor. You get a beautiful combination of the chocolate-y, sweet seeds and the dried-cherry and dark rum notes of the outer husk. This powder is versatile for baking, cold brews, smoky-spicy rubs, slow-and-low braises, balsamic vinaigrette, decadent smoothies and warming libations. Simply use an equal amount of powder in place of vanilla extract for alcohol-free, pure vanilla flavor.
This is the same vanilla we carry in whole pods and chopped pods for our extract kit.
Highlights
Moyobamba, Peruvian Amazon
Sun-dried and ground
Vanilla pompona pods
Dried Cherry • Chocolate • Dark Rum
Ground Pemba Cloves, Cloud Forest Cardamom (Ground Pods), Morogoro Cacao
Cooking tips
- Substitute for vanilla extract 1:1 in baking, or use half for savory applications
- Use in baking or ice creams for beautiful flavor and black flecks
SOURCING
If a regular vanilla pod is like a string bean, Pompona Vanilla is like a sugar snap — bigger, fatter, sweeter and fuller of flavor.
These incredibly rare, wild (literally and figuratively) pods come from the Peruvian Amazon. Wild vanilla is virtually unheard of, and impossible outside of vanilla's native range, from Mexico to northern South America.
Vanilla orchids are only pollinated by a couple of species of bee, which only live in the Americas. All commercial Vanilla planifolia (most of which is grown in Madagascar) has to be hand-pollinated by the farmer once per year when the flowers bloom for just 3-5 hours.
Pompona Vanilla is pollinated by a single species called the dilemma orchid bee (amazing) and is then ripened and split on the vine, then ground to a powder.