Vanilla is the second most expensive “food flavoring” after saffron. It may also be dark because it contains red dye or caramel (carmelo) coloring.Īnother clue to finding good quality vanilla extract is the price. It’s often called “crystal vanilla.”ĭark and murky is synthetic vanillin, most likely ethyl vanillin derived from coal tar. Natural and Artificial Vanillas are a blend of natural vanilla fortified with artificial vanillin, flavors and other “ingredients.”Ĭlear vanilla is artificial vanillin. Make sure the brown bottle doesn’t contain clear “vanilla” liquid. It is imitation vanilla with unknown ingredients. BEWARE! The cheap product in the big bottle is not vanilla at all. There are numerous words used to label “vanilla” sold in stores today. Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean began selling cheap synthetic vanillas hoping to cash in on Mexico’s vanilla connection. Soon it was discovered that synthetic vanillin could be made from the waste-water of paper pulp and coal tar processing. Also, the less alcohol makes the vanilla much more versatile and can be used for anything that calls for vanilla such as French toast, smoothies, homemade ice cream, whip cream, cookies, cakes, oatmeal, etc.Īrtificial Vanilla Extract In the 1880s the first synthetic vanilla extracts came from Germany, providing a cheaper alternative to natural vanilla. Traditional Mexican Vanilla has 10% alcohol (90% water) and less than 1% of natural vanillin. Although expensive, this is the BEST vanilla you can buy in Mexico. The color is light brown from the cured beans. This allows much of the alcohol to burn off. It is, therefore, best utilized in those items which require high heat, such as baked goods. Pure Mexican Vanilla has at least a 35% alcohol content and higher natural vanillin concentration. There is even a 60X strength available only to industrial users where an excessive liquid is a problem. You cannot produce high-quality extracts with inferior quality beans! It can be found in several strengths called fold: single (1X) and double (2X) is common for the baking industry.
Producing premium pure vanilla extract always begins with the beans. Pure Vanilla Extract has a complex flavor, comprised of approximately 300 individual flavor components all working together to create its rich flavor and bouquet. Other countries have less strict regulations. Most reputable companies avoid this additive. Some of the vanilla extracts sold in Mexico are stretched with tonka bean extract, which has a similar taste and aroma to vanilla but contains coumarin which can be toxic to the liver and is banned as a food additive by the US Food & Drug Administration since the 1950s. The difference between the two is mostly in the processing of the Vanilla beans after harvesting.
It comes from the same species ( Vanilla planiolia) grown in Mexico, which is called “Mexican vanilla,” purely a marketing designation. Vanilla extract is usually marketed as “Bourbon vanilla,” most of which is grown in Indonesia and Madagascar. There are several distinct species of the vanilla orchid, the most common being Vanilla planifolia, Vanilla tahitiensis (a Mexican hybrid), and Vanilla pompona. When Cortés came to conquer Mexico in 1519, he sent samples of the vanilla orchid back to Spain where they eventually spread to other growing areas around the world including Madagascar, Indonesia, Reunion (at the time called “Il de Bourbon”), Tonga, Costa Rica, & Papua New Guinea. Vanilla beans cultivated around the world originally all came from Mexico.
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