Making Pure Vanilla Extract

Vanilla is the world's second most expensive spice (saffron being the highest-priced), which, I suppose, is why I always find it in tiny little bottles at the grocery store. I use vanilla liberally in baking, so those 1- and 2-oz. bottles of McCormick's or Watson's don't last long.

A bottle lasts a while, but the price always makes me wince. What's that you say? Use imitation vanilla? Do you know what's IN THAT STUFF? Snopes doesn't lie!

"Castrorium, baby!"

This time last year I learned how absurdly easy it is to make vanilla extract-- and for that matter lemon, orange, almond, mint, maple or any other extract one can think of. Of course I had to try it.

I had long seen television chefs scraping vanilla beans when making desserts, but I never actually saw one of the critters until a packet of six arrived from a seller on eBay. The beans seemed a bit decomposed, which is due to the processes of killing, sweating, drying, and conditioning in their processing.

The only other ingredient I needed was liquor at 70-80 proof (35-40% alcohol ABV).

"Cash Your Check and Buy Your Booze Here!"

I took myself to Big John's Liquor on Memorial Drive and bought a fifth (well, .75 liter; sadly, no one sells fifths any more) of Everclear, which I diluted with an equal amount of distilled water when I got home. I could have just as easily bought the cheapest unflavored vodka in the store and used it undiluted. I could also have used rum or whiskey, which are said to make for flavorful extracts, but I thought I would save those for a later batch.

When I told the clerk at the register I was making extract and would be soaking beans in it for 90 days, she was intrigued, but had difficulty believing  the alcohol would last more than a day without being consumed. That's the sort of customer Big John is used to dealing with, I suppose. I told her I would bring the extract around later and show it to her, but I decided against it. I still might.

Back at home I resisted the temptation to prove the clerk correct by drinking the Everclear down to the last drop and set about processing the beans.

I split the pods open and scraped them gently with a sharp knife until they had yielded all their contents. This I put in the bottle containing the diluted Everclear, screwed the cap on tightly, and shook gently.

For the next 90 days the bottle lived in a dark drawer. Every two to three days, or, to be more honest, whenever I thought about it, I would remove the bottle, rotate it, and return it to its dark hiding place.

The liquid in the bottle gradually took on a beautiful brown color and began to smell heavenly. When 90 days were up I decided to double-up and added more beans. Ninety days later I opened the bottle and poured the contents through a coffee filter. I repeated with a second filter. Now I had a quart-and-a-half of pure vanilla extract. My total cost was $38. This included a dozen four-ounce amber glass bottles I had ordered from Amazon.

I filled and capped the bottles, rinsed the outsides, and let them dry, then pasted on printed labels. I only wish I had come across this artwork:

At Christmastime I sent packages containing bottles of vanilla and lemon extracts as presents. It made me feel good to send something I had made.

To make lemon extract, by the way, just zest a few lemons and put the zest in a bottle of vodka. It works the same way.

I'm about to make more lemon extract (since I gave all I made away), orange extract, mint extract, and almond extract-- and I'm about to embark on a new project-- making liqueurs. First up are creme de menthe and blackberry liquor and maybe some peppermint schapps. They'll be just as easy as were the extracts and will be far better than inexpensive products like Bols, DeKuyper, and Hiram Walker. A bottle of quality liqueur costs about $44 bucks, as I discovered when I recently bought a bottle of kirschwasser. That's a cherry brandy, not sweet at all, made in Germany from morello cherries from the Black Forest. It takes something like 14 pounds of cherries to make one liter or kirsch. (Kirsch is an ingredient in fondues and is magical when used in baking. That's why I bought it. I tasted it, of course; I'm not quite sure what it tasted like. Perhaps I should taste it again.)

Here's a recipe for making vanilla extract.