The Vanilla Experiment – Checkup

We are now a couple of weeks into the Vanilla Bean Experiment!  I am officially… an eighth of the way through before I can actually start using the extract.

The lovely Sirene and her partner came over to Redfort for dinner, and we sniff-tested the four different extracts I have.  This was the first time I cracked open the experimental bottles, so we had no idea what to expect.  This is what we had:

• Queen’s Vanilla Extract
• Equagold Bourbon Vanilla Extract
• Redfort Vanilla Extract (as shown in the pictures)
• Redfort Vanilla Brandy

Sniffing notes, more pictures and Vanilla Cam after the cut!

From Queen Website: http://www.queen.com.au/

Queen’s Vanilla Extract is, as far as I know, the best supermarket vanilla product available.  I’ve seen vanilla pods in supermarkets, but at $9 per pod, not even the name of Science is enough to get me to invest that much.  It retails at about $8/200ml, and contains fructose, glucose, extract of vanilla beans, water and preservative (202).

Side-note: Ingredients lists for products are listed in order of how much of that ingredient is in it.  So, the main ingredient of the Queen’s extract is fructose and glucose – basically sugars.

This had a very medicinal, fruity smell, not particularly pleasant, but not something you want to stick your nose in and huff for the whole day.   It is a nice, tawny colour, and about the consistency of water, making it very easy to measure.  On the upside, you can’t really smell it unless you do stick your nose right into the bottle.  And it does contain … some … percentage of actual vanilla flavour, but the preservative we could really do without, especially since alcohol itself is one.

From Equagold website: http://www.equagold.co.nz/

We picked up the Equagold Bourbon Vanilla Extract from the Good Food and Wine Show.  The vendor was suitably impressed that I had started my own extract, but since I still had about 4-6 weeks before I could use it, I was eager to get my hands on some good stuff. It retails online for $13/50ml but I’m pretty sure we got a Show discount.  It contains water and alcohol (35%), extracts of vanilla pods, and an actual piece of vanilla pod (about 7cm).

This smelled quite strong at the show, even though it was their “tester” bottle.  There was an immediate vanilla fragrance as soon as the vendor opened it, and there is a much tighter seal on the cap.  Even sniffing it now, there is no alcohol “burn” to the smell, just warm, soft vanilla.  The extract is very dark gold, and about the consistency of warm syrup.  I had to hold it up to a fluorescent light to even see the pod, it’s that thick.

The “Bourbon” in the name refers to the vanilla species, from the Bourbon islands.  It contains more vanillin (the actual part that gives the “vanilla” flavour) than other varieties, so theoretically, Bourbon extracts are stronger.  I’m sure there’s also a difference in taste, but my palate isn’t quite developed enough to tell.  So far I’ve only used it to make brownies (also using the Equagold Dutch cocoa powder), and they came out incredibly rich, but not sticky.  We had actually left the house while the brownies were baking (convection microwave oven!  It’s okay!), and when we got home, the smell of chocolate and vanilla was almost a punch to the face.  A very rich, sweet punch.

Not much colour change from Days 2 – 4, but my extract is definitely more amber than yellow.  I’ve also been forgetting to shake it every single day, but considering the length of time for extraction, it shouldn’t really matter.  There is still a very strong alcohol “burn” to the smell, and almost a harshness to the vanilla.  The best way I can express it is an “immature” smell – it’s not there yet, but you can actually sense the potential for something very tasty.  Consistency is still that of vodka, but the pods are definitely looking more wrinkly than when they went in.  The bigger change was actually to the brandy – instead of smelling like a overly-boozy fruit cake, there is a smooth roundness to the fruit and less “burn”.  It smells more like port and warm stewed apples than strong wine.  It’s kind of at the stage that if you compared it to straight brandy, you could tell the difference, but maybe not what that difference was.

The lighting happened to be better this day, so you can see the wrinkly pods.  I think I’m going to have to invest in some actual cheesecloth when it comes time to strain the extract.

And finally, for my good friend Khedron in Ohio, Vanilla Cam!

Apologies to any readers in Germany – apparently the music I have in the video means that it’s banned there.  But in a few months, you’re all invited over here for Brandy Apfeltorte and kuchen with creme anglaise!