Beanilla’s excellent Madagascar, Tonga, Mexico, and Papua New Guinea vanilla beans are already featured on this site. Recently, they added India and Indonesia grown planifolia pods. Brent at Beanilla sent these vacuum-packed samples for review. Rarely do you find two beans with such different and distinct aromas, it’s an exciting and obvious contrast.

India planifolia (Grade A – $36.50 for 8 ounces, 1/2 pound)

More and more India vanilla is coming on the market. Two years ago it was difficult to track down, but in the past six months I’ve evaluated several samples.

Beanilla’s India vanilla beans are dark brown in color. The skins have a beautiful texture, the smoothness and sheen of the pods are evidence of expert curing. The pods are well-shaped and very flexible.  These vanilla beans are turgid with caviar.

Inside, the vanilla pods are oily and gooey. Sticky strings form as the bean is pulled apart. The aroma is dark and rich, with strong overtones of chocolate and prune. There’s a large yield of thick, moldable, and very oily caviar in each bean.

Indonesia planifolia (Grade A – $35.98 for 8 ounces, 1/2 pound)

Indonesia vanilla beans are often picked too early, and the curing process is typically hasty and unrefined. Gourmet Indonesia vanilla is rare; there’s only one other example on this site.

Beanilla’s Indonesia grown beans are black in color. The pods are flexible, but flat and not plump. The skins are moderately oily and only moderately supple, but these are still among the best cured Indonesia beans I’ve evaluated.

The caviar is pillowy and light. It has plenty of moisture, but isn’t especially sticky. Caviar yield is moderate. The beans have a spicy, cinnamon aroma that is a noticeable contrast to the India beans’ chocolate notes.

It’s always nice to see another vendor of India-sourced vanilla beans. India vanilla is not yet widely marketed, but the industry in south India continues to grow. This is a European vendor, selling vanilla beans from the United Kingdom.

VanillaMart’s vanilla beans are grown by a group of farmers’ co-operatives in South India (Malnad region of Karnataka). Pods are intercropped with coffee, cardamom, black pepper, and other spices. VanillaMart has been selling these vanilla beans in the UK for over a year, and has found wide acceptance of non-Madagascar vanilla.

The samples arrived loosely packed, instead of vacuum packed. The pod texture is supple and has a nice, matte sheen. Not overly-greasy, like some vacuum packed beans can be. All have a wonderful, spicy aroma.

12-15cm India planifolia (Regular – no longer sold)

Since I started the review, these vanilla beans are no longer for sale, but VanillaMart sent some as a comparison sample. The regular beans are not as moist as the two gourmet-length varieties, but they have plenty of flexibility. The skin is a bit dry, though, with some light brown streaks.  They have a good aroma and are moderately plump.

The last picture (below) shows the regular-length vanilla.

15-17cm India planifolia (Gourmet – £24.00 per 500 grams)

The gourmet-length variety is my favorite. The skin is supple and dark brown. The pods are flexible and oily. They have an average plumpness. The caviar is also quite oily, and there are some pools of oil left on the plate after cutting. There is an average yield of caviar. Its texture is very nice, quite moist and shapes well.

The first picture (below) shows the gourmet-length beans. The remainder of the photos show the premium gourmet beans because, apart from the length, they are comparable in quality.

18-21cm India planifolia (Premium Gourmet – £27.00 per 500 grams)

These vanilla pods have an average plumpness, a bit more than the Gourmet, but are also very wide. The skin is dark brown in color, flexible and oily. The caviar is slightly oily and has a beautiful texture. There is an above-average caviar yield, due to the size of these vanilla beans.

Silver Cloud Estates’ vanilla beans are grown and cured on the same farm, a real rarity in the vanilla industry. This is definitely vanilla with a sense of place — all the beans are grown on the estate in the Blue Mountains of Southern India.

Click read more for the full review.

According to Chris at Silver Cloud Estates, All our vanilla beans are grown exclusively on the estates in the beautiful Nilgiri, or Blue Mountains of Southern India. Since we grow our vanilla beans we have tremendous control over the quality of the beans and other vanilla products we sell. It enables us to guarantee that the products are natural and produced in an eco-friendly manner. No child labor is ever used to plant, grow, pollinate, harvest or process any of our products. Today, over 100,000 plants are intercropped with tea, coffee, black pepper, cardamom and other spices.

India Planifolia (Grade A – $29.50 per 1/2 pound)
Silver Cloud Estates sent a half-pound of vanilla beans for review. There were 68 beans — or 136 per pound. According to Chris, these are from the 2007 crop.

The vanilla is mahogany brown to black in color. The beans are all moist and super flexible – they tie easily in a knot without breaking. The skins are oily and supple. The beans are of average width and plumpness.

Exceptionally dark and rich caviar, very nice. The texture is like wet sand, not goopy. It leaves brown-green oil stains on the knife and my fingers. The aroma is sharp and fruity, like raisins or prunes.

Very high quality vanilla beans, but it’s even more exceptional because it’s rare and farm-direct. Silver Cloud Estates is the only source I’ve found for vanilla beans grown in India. This vanilla is grown and cured in the same location, reflecting the unique conditions and practices at this beautiful, historic Estate. Great beans, with lots of character.

The minimum order is a bit large, but perhaps these beans will be available from resellers in the future. Jags at orchidsasia.com has offered to send samples of the latest crop for the review. I’ll add photos as soon as I get the sample. Be sure and check out the Jags’ info on growing and curing vanilla.