BTW, you don’t have to worry about your beans going stale. The alcohol will act as a preservative that could keep them in good shape for years. Although I would filter them out after a time for aesthetic value and to remove some of the grit.

could you use glass stopper bottles?? I have some pretty amber ones but am afraid the seal around the stopper wouldn’t provide a strong enough seal…

Very inspiring tutorial, I am certainly going to try this!

For a great resealable bottle, try and get hold of Grolsch beer bottles. At least the imported ones we get here in Norway are made from dark green glass, and has a porcelain cap with rubber seal fastened with a metal wire. This means the bottle can be opened and re-sealed as often as you like, and cleaning them for reuse is easy, too. I got three crates of empties for free from a local bar, because there is no deposit on them here, and I have cleaned them and used them for home brewed beer and fruit syrup. they really are the best.

You’re probably right about the scraping. It has been suggested before, and some users have experiments in progress. I always do it to maximize contact between the vanilla bean and the vodka — commercial extractors grind their beans into a fine pulver.

The maple syrup is probably intended to cut the alcohol smell with a bit of sugar. Commercial extracts often use corn syrup for this purpose. I always advocate using pure vanilla extract, you can always add a bit of syrup later.

Thanks for the info.

I got a bit of oak cask/barrel info from barrelsource.com, but this is the first real-life experiment. Good luck, and keep us updated.

That should work fine. That’s how I make vanilla sugar.

I don’t know how it will work with powdered stevia — I imagine it depends on the binders, if any, that are used to dilute the extreme sweetness (and sometimes bitterness) of concentrated stevia powder.

Thanks Michelle.

I have my a batch of vanilla put away for Christmas, 1.5 litre with vodka and 500ml with a good Italian brandy. I cook with brandy so this is an experiment.

Whiskey distillers often refer to the ‘angels portion’ when the alcohol volume reduces through evaporation over an extended period of time. I hope to put down a small cask of vanilla made from straight alcohol in the fall. Maturation and evaporation should produce a nectar worthy of high praise. I will let you know in 5 years or so what it tastes like.

You may also like to discuss this page in the vanilla forum.

This is just making me grin, I’m so excited to get started. So many great tips on here! I just ordered my beans yesterday, and I’m really looking forward to getting started. I think I’m going to do a batch with vodka and a batch with bourbon, see how it goes. I bough Madagascar and Tahitian beans, and I’m just obsessing over making vanilla right now. I wanna cook with it AND make it my signature scent. ;) I love vanilla!

Since it was kind of late when we got home from buying bottles at The Container Store, I only made two 250 ml bottle’s worth, but already, I can’t wait to make more tomorrow! (My fingers smell DELICIOUS right now!) I followed your directions and split the beans, took out the caviar, cut up the beans into smaller pieces, and then put all the beans and caviar into the bottle, filling it with vodka and then sealing it up with a bottle cap or cork. I shook vigorously and put the bottles (one green, one clear) into a cool, dark place. I will fill more bottles tomorrow, and will continue to shake them up over the next few weeks.

I am making a minimum of 15 bottles at 250 ml each for gifts at Christmas. I may make more depending on how much vanilla bean I have.

It was really quite fun, as I have been looking forward to doing this for months. I can’t wait to do more tomorrow, and I look forward to the day when we can start using my own extract in our cooking here at home. My wife is excited at the prospect of having such high quality vanilla extract, and my daughter is looking forward to using some as perfume.

Thanks for such a great site, a great instructable, and for all the information you’ve gathered on the subject of vanilla beans and vanilla extract!

I now use beer bottles to store the extract, and cap them with an actual beer cap using a capper. Eventually, I plan to order a range of small plastic bottles for each variety of extract — but I’ve yet to find the perfect bottle.

Do you know a source of small casks? I’d love to try this.

That sounds like a great idea. It’s probably really close to what is actually done at an extract manufacturer — they macerate the beans into tiny pieces.

My only word of caution comes from a paper written by Garth at Heilala Vanilla: Extract manufacturers are careful not to grind the beans too small or the final extract will be cloudy.

Thanks for the great suggestion.

Although not so pretty as the sliced beans (and i’m just supposing, i haven’t tried this either way). Why not do a rough chop on the beans, then put them in the food processor… add in the vodka bit by bit, and when you’ve got a pretty smashed up slurry, funnel it into the bottle. Then probably top off with more vodka (my food processor is quite tiny).

Great site!

What a great experiment. I always scrape the beans because I take pictures for site.

Did you split the beans with the caviar intact? I imagine that if you split the beans, but don’t scrape the inside, the caviar will probably separate during agitation.

Please keep us updated with your results. The outcome will be really interesting.