These Tanzanian vanilla beans were listed on eBay by Kim. Kim met the vanilla growers while working as a teacher with the Peace Corps. The money raised from these beans went to Tanzania to cover the cost of school and school supplies. Read the previous stories.

The beans are flexible and brown-red in color, but are not very oily, supple, or moist. They have a nice coating of frost. Vanilla frost, while not a strict indicator of quality, shows that the beans contain vanillin and were properly cured. It’s also pretty rare, as most beans are sold vacuum packed, which prevents the frost from forming.

A majority of the beans have small to large splits in the end, indicating that they were harvested when ripe (and not too early). The number of split ends reminds me of these beans from Vanuatu. As Piero explained, to ensure maximum flavor, the growers are taught to wait until the end just splits before harvesting a bean. Premature harvest is a huge source of low quality beans, and frustration for new growers.

These beans seem to have a very high concentration of vanillin, like the Ugandan vanilla I reviewed. They do lack the sophisticated curing that comes from a vanilla region like Madagascar with a specialized curing industry. However, these beans are the embodiment of terroir. They are farm-cured, and come direct from the grower. Cool! I can’t wait to sample the extract.

If you would like to buy Tanzania grown vanilla and support small farmers, Kim says that there are plenty of growers eager to sell their vanilla. Let me know through the contact form, and I’ll put you in touch with Kim.

Premium Grade A Gourmet Vanilla Planifolia (Bourbon-Style) Beans from Uganda

Located in the interior of the African continent, Uganda started producing some truly fine vanilla beans several years ago…

This auction is for 1/4 lb of organically grown Bourbon style vanilla planifolia beans from Uganda. They are plum, pliable, and, most importantly, succulent and flavorful. These beans are approximately 7″ – 8″ in length, with 30% moisture content.

update some more info on these beans. According to Rebekah, “these beans were purchased from a wholesaler in France.” If you are interested in some cheap Uganda beans for extract, contact Rebekah — fragasso80(at)msn.com. Replace (at) with @.

These black/brown beans are flexible but not particularly oily. The skin is pliable but not supple or oily, as evidenced by the lack of shine in the photos. I doubt they have 30% moisture as advertised, perhaps closer to 25%. The bundle seems to have a mix of qualities, from two (5%) super nice, giant beans (pictured below), to woody dry beans that barely meet my expectations of grade A vanilla. Overall, pretty disappointing for gourmet beans, but perfect for homemade extract.

The beans have a pleasant but mild raisin aroma, inside and out. The skins are noticeably woody and dry when cut. The caviar is also dry, airy, and light — like good potting soil.

These vanilla beans were advertised as 7″ to 8″ in length. As seen in the photograph below, most of the beans are just barely 7″ (17.78cm).