Watch out when ordering from Vanilla Products USA — the eBay listings can be confusing. Be sure you choose their Madagascar Planifolia beans if thats what you want. They also sell Planifolia grown in PNG (costs half as much as Madagascar). They have good prices on grade ‘B’ extract beans, but again, they come from PNG. Extract grade Tahitensis Vanilla (grown in PNG) is available in one pound bundles (~$12).

Madagascar Planifolia (Grade A - $12.45 per 1/4 pound)
These were very nice beans of 7″ or so. These beans were flexible, moist, and oily. They have the very typical Madagascar vanilla aroma, and produce a bunch of nice caviar. The house smelled great after rendering a 1/4 pound of these.

PNG Tahitensis (Grade A - $5.99 per 1/4 pound)
Recall that Tahitensis (”Tahitian”) vanilla is a mutated variety. These Tahitensis were grown in PNG. These beans smelled like fruity raisins and pipe tobacco. Nice moist beans, slightly smaller than the Madagascar.

 

The sample beans arrived super fast.

Huge, plump beans with a “rustic” feel. All the beans, even the Tahitensis, were extremely pungent and chocolaty. This is the result of variations in technique, landscape, and weather best described as terroir. OVBC sells these huge PNG vanilla beans at a great price.

The beans were vacuum packed.

PNG Planifolia Grade A 8″+ ($12.50 per 1/4 pound)
Very round and plump vanilla beans… and HUGE! The longest beans in this review (February 2008, check the latest Longest Bean Awards…). These are advertised as the ‘plumpest bean on e-bay’ — they are certainly longer and fatter than the other e-Bay beans I reviewed. They are beautifully shaped. The firm skin has more of a matte finish than many beans, bit is very moist and flexible. Very high caviar yield — typical for very long beans. The caviar is moist and oily, it clumps well and is easy to shape. The aroma is extremely pungent, with dark, creamy, chocolate hints.

I like this distinct Papua New Guinea aroma even more than that of the Amadeus PNG beans — this is very similar to the aroma I noted in the XL PNG beans from Beanilla.com. I believe it has to do with the PNG curing method or the size/ripeness of the beans. Jack sent this great info about the super long beans:

“We have specific plantation that grow these extra long beans. Tahitensis rarely grow to longer than 18cm. For both varieties, only about 10% of the harvest falls into these super size lengths (18cm+ for Tahit. and 20cm+ for Bourbon). This is why these beans are sold at a premium.”

 

PNG Planifolia Grade B mixed sizes ($8.00 per 1/4 pound)
These are the first extract beans I reviewed. I’m surprised how nice these beans are. A bit drier, woodier, and uglier than the Grade A beans, but still plenty soft and flexible.

There are a variety of lengths, but all the beans are very long, wide, and plump. These beans have tons of caviar, but it’s slightly drier than the caviar from the grade A beans. Check out the close-up shots to see the difference in moisture content — but the caviar looks the same! Great extract beans, perfect for making a big bottle of PNG vanilla extract.

Woody extract beans can be harder to cut than a gourmet bean. Make sure you use a stable work surface.

 

PNG Tahitensis Grade A 7″+ ($10.00 per 1/4 pound)
Long, plump, attractive Tahitensis beans — probably the longest Tahitensis beans in this review. The beans are flexible and have oily skins. A moderately high yield of moist caviar. The texture of the caviar is crumbly.

These beans have a very pungent Tahitensis aroma. One thing different about these beans is the color of the oil that leaked during preparation. Whereas most beans have a yellow-brown oil, these had an oil that was more of a green-gray. I don’t claim to know what this means, but I find it interesting.

 

PNG Tahitensis Grade B mixed sizes (unavailable)
Grade B Tahitensis beans are available. Write for info (info@organic-vanilla.com) on the Tahitensis extract beans, they sell out pretty fast. I’ll try to review them when the next crop is available.

A reader recommended that I check out Beanilla.com. I’m glad I did. Beanilla.com is great source for exotic vanilla beans. Beans from Mexico and Tonga are currently listed, but I’m told they will soon add vanilla from Indonesia, Tahiti (tahitensis), Uganda, and Hawaii. I sent out an e-mail, and Brent of Beanilla.com responded right away. He used the magic phrases that make any DIY’er tingle — first, Beanilla.com’s goal is to support the vanilla enthusiast community (that’s us!), and second, were can I send samples. The samples arrived promptly with some exotic vanillas, and the LONGEST vanilla beans I’ve seen so far (January 2008).

All the beans from Beanilla.com are gorgeous and truly gourmet. They are uniformly plump, moist, and oily. Check out my close-up shots to see the different characteristics of each variety. All the beans reviewed in this instructable are excellent, but the Beanilla beans are the cream of the crop, close to perfect.

The beans were vacuum packed.

‘Eua, Tonga Planifolia (Grade A - $45 per 1/4 pound)
Beanilla.com is the only vendor in the US that sells vanilla from Tonga. Vanilla is an emerging export from Tonga and the industry is just getting started. These vanilla beans were grown on ‘Eua Island. They are almost golden (but not as light as the pictures seem to depict). The skins are amazingly soft and supple. The aroma is more floral than the typical Madagascar bean, very soft and smooth. The oil in the Tonga vanilla is especially ‘thick’ and fatty. It’s so thick that the caviar log could withstand substantial handling without falling apart. Often caviar is crumbly, but this was almost like vegetable shortening. Much higher-than-average caviar yield.

 

Mexico Planifolia (Grade A - $28.95 per 1/4 pound)
Beautiful vanilla beans with striking reddish “cat’s eye” streaks. Check out the close-up pictures to see for yourself. The aroma is very dark, even woody. These have the firmest skin of the five Beanilla bean varieties.

These aren’t the only Mexican vanilla beans on the web, but this is the only vendor (with beans from Mexico) that responded to questions (emails) about their beans — Beanilla.com is thus the only source I can recommend. UPDATE: Beanilla.com reduced their prices, they now have the best priced “real” Mexican vanilla beans I’ve seen.

 

Extra Long PNG Planifolia (”Gourmet Bourbon”) (Grade A - $40 per 1/4 pound)
Huge beans, some are almost 9″! By far the longest vanilla beans I’ve ever seen (January 2008, check the latest Longest Bean Awards…). Shockingly huge! These beans are from PNG, but have a much different aroma than other PNG beans I’ve reviewed. The smell is a combination of bold old-school chocolate licorice and coffee. I’ve read that bigger beans ripen longer and become more pungent — perhaps that accounts for the strong aroma. I’m excited to extract these beans — only the difference between planifolia and tahitensis has been similarly pronounced. Remarkable! So incredibly different from any others reviewed in this instructable.

These are also some of the “roundest” vanilla beans I’ve ever seen. Sometimes beans are paper thin, even ‘plump’ beans have a wide and a narrow side — these were perfectly round and firm, but not tough. Caviar yield was obviously very high, twice as much as a similar number of average sized beans. The caviar was a bit like clay — not fatty like the Tonga beans, but still moldable and cohesive.

 

Madagascar Planifolia (Grade A - $22.50 per 1/4 pound)
These are the highest quality Madagascar beans I’ve reviewed. A spicy Madagascar vanilla aroma, with the brightness of “true” cinnamon. What really differentiates these from other Madagascar beans is their uniform plumpness. Take a look at the first picture — not a scrawny bean in the bunch. All the Beanilla beans were exceptionally oily, and these are no exception. The caviar texture is typical for Madagascar vanilla, but I’m a bit surprised by the moderate caviar yield considering the size of these beans.

 

PNG Tahitensis (Grade A - $15.99 per 1/4 pound)
Beanilla’s tahitensis are uniformly plump, oily, almost perfect vanilla beans. These are superior, gourmet quality tahitensis, and this is reflected in the price. Sometimes beans are quite thin, flat, and vary in size, these are plump, wide, and uniform. Take a look at the ‘pile’ picture below, this shot is intended to give you a good closeup view of the bean profile. These have the typical tahitensis floral aroma. The caviar is spongy, light, and airy, with a medium-sized yield. Oil from these beans is red/brown — caviar usually leaves a yellowish oil — see the picture. Really amazing vanilla beans.

 

Indonesia, Tahiti (tahitensis), Uganda, and Hawaii (Grade A)
According to Rob Conley (CEO):
“Soon we will be offering … some other vanilla bean varieties, including Indonesian Vanilla, Tahitian (Tahiti) Vanilla and Ugandan Vanilla. We have also been working closely with farmers from Hawaii for the last 2 years. We are hoping that the crops will be ready to cure by mid 2008 so we can offer genuine Hawaiian vanilla to our online customers.” Rob Conley, Beanilla Trading Co, Letter, received January 21st, 2008.

Amadeus shipped the beans in loosely sealed plastic bags. Watch out for the minimum order charge if you just get the sampler, like I did. Glenn at Amadeus has been a great resource for this article. This is “the” place to buy Uganda Planifolia vanilla beans. Their sampler pack is a great way to start your extract collection.

Indonesia Planifolia (Grade A)
A darker-smelling bean, very moist. The fragrance was warm and spicy, like cardamom, coffee, or incense, but also a bit chemical somehow. Very long and pretty beans, but not the strongest fragrance.

Madagascar Planifolia (Grade A) Regular and Super Long
These have the ‘classic’ vanilla aroma. Both the regular and super long varieties had plenty of caviar. The super longs are well cured, with a pliable but firm skin. Instructables member cdrivanova ordered the 1/4 lb sampler pack with the regular sized Madagascar beans, you can verify the quality of these beans in her Flickr photo set.

Glenn at Amadeus Trading sent me the Super Long beans to replace an order of regular sized beans that were short, dry, and stick-like (see Madagascar vanilla comparison). Amadeus acknowledged the problem and sent replacement beans. While there was nothing wrong with the original beans flavor-wise, they didn’t meet my (or Glenn’s) expectations for Grade A vanilla beans.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) Planifolia (Grade A)
While these were the next-smallest beans (after Madagascar) from Amadeus, their caviar yield was rather high. It smelled the most “vanilla-like” of all the beans, with a soft and velvety fragrance that made me think of ice cream, or some kind of skin lotion. The smell was decidedly creamy. This is my favorite (smelling) vanilla to date.

Uganda Gold ™ Planifolia (Grade A)
Very big beans, longer and thicker than most I’ve seen. They were so big that they were the obvious choice for the pictures in this instructable. Yields a lot of caviar. The smell was tangy and fruity, like figs or certain multicolored breakfast cereals. Amadeus appears to be ”the” source for this particular bean. Glenn says these are available in extract grade:

“The organic grade 1 Bourbon beans we sell on our website are Uganda origin beans. So if you want to give those a try, you should get some impressive results. We have just had our latest shipment tested, and one supplier’s beans tested at .27% vanillin content — that’s extremely high (a good vanillin content for Madagascar beans is .17% - .19% — in past years we saw “really good” results as high as .19% - .21%. So these Uganda beans are really something!” Glenn Gottlieb, Amadeus Trading Company, e-mail, 22-DEC-2007.

UPDATE: Instructables member pbwingman11 posted some pictures of the Uganda extract beans on flickr.