If you consider yourself a true foodie, having a bottle of homemade vanilla extract in your flavor arsenal is an absolute must. Its very essence is akin to the Nectar of the Gods and is the concentrated heart of our superior quality vanilla.
Your homemade extract will elevate your baking to Michelin Star levels and make for a unique and thoughtful gift. Making vanilla extract is both an art and a science, with strict guidelines set by regulators like the FDA. Luckily, learning how to make it is simple with our Native Vanilla pods, alcohol, and a little patience.
Trust us, the results are well worth the wait.
Now that we've inspired you to create your own vanilla extract, check out our guide and recipe below to get started.
To be considered a PURE vanilla extract only REAL vanilla pods should be used - It cannot include any artificial or imitation ingredients or any additives beyond a small list of sweeteners (like sugar). But we like ours as pure as it can get - just alcohol, water and real Vanilla Beans. The final alcohol content in your extract is another regulation. It must be at or above 35% ABV. This means that at minimum you should be looking at 70 proof spirits to ensure you’re getting the best results.
Vanilla Extract Calculator:
Pure Vanilla Extract needs to be made using (at a minimum) 13.35 oz / gallon (100g / liter) of real vanilla beans, at a moisture content of 25%. If your beans have a moisture content higher than 25%, you need to add more, less than 25% and you need less. This is because the moisture content in the vanilla beans contributes to the water content of the final mixture and can effectively “water down” your extract.
You can take the fluid ounces of extract you would like to make and multiply it by 0.11 ounces to get the weight of vanilla beans you will need. For example, to make a pint of vanilla extract (16 floz) you would need 1.76 ounces of vanilla beans (16 * 0.11) to comply with the recipe. It is always best to round up to get that true vanilla flavor!
A simple guide is that you will need 1 oz of vanilla beans per 8 oz of alcohol. You can also use our Vanilla Extract Calculator to work it out.
Getting Started:
Now this sounds like a lot for anyone to keep in mind when just making Vanilla Extract at home, which is why we wrote this simple Recipe Guide for people to use to get the best results!
You will need the following to get started:
- Glass jar or bottle with an airtight seal to make your extract in (check out our bottle selection here.) You can also use the bottle that the alcohol came in, as long it has an airtight seal and if you measure out the alcohol beforehand.
- 70 proof Alcohol. You can use anything from vodka to bourbon to rum, but to get the purest vanilla taste it is best to use a colorless alcohol like vodka.
- Vanilla Beans – We have a wide range of vanilla beans from around the world that you can select from.
- Knife or Scissors
FREE HOMEMADE EXTRACT LABEL
And if you’d like to add some true native vanilla flair to your sumptuous extract, download and apply our FREE labels.
