Indri's Vanilla Bean Group recommended vanilla extract recipes
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Alcohol
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Variety of vanilla bean
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"Recipe"
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Time you should budget
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Final flavor profile and notes
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Specific Brands that the group likes to shout out:
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| Vodka |
Any |
1-2 ounces of beans per 1 cup of vodka |
12 months |
Pure vanilla, may have an alcohol-y punch if too few beans were used, if the vodka wasn't well filtered, or if not enough time has elapsed. To improve flavor, consider splitting beans, adding more beans, giving it more time, or potentially adding an oak finishing block at the end of extraction. |
Kirkland, Ocean, Pau Maui, Smirnoff, Grey Goose, Absolut, Svedka, cheaper "bottom shelf" brands |
| Diluted Everclear |
Any |
1 cup 190 proof Everclear + 1 cup distilled water, mixed and left to rest for 15-30 minutes. Add 2-4 ounces vanilla beans. |
12 months |
Pure vanilla. Less likely to have any astringent overtones. Make sure the proof of the diluted liquid is in the 70-100 proof range. If you start with 151 or 120 proof Everclear, less water will be needed. Search the group for dilution calculations if you need that. |
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| White Rum |
Any, though V. tahitensis is particularly good |
1-2 ounces of beans per 1 cup of rum |
12-14 months |
Slightly sweet. |
Mr. Boston, Bacardi, Captain Morgan |
| Gold Rum |
Any |
1.5-2 ounces of beans per 1 cup of rum |
12-18 months |
Moderately dark, slightly sweet. |
Cruzan, Captain Morgan, Bacardi |
| Dark Rum |
V. planifolia, especially Ugandan, Madagascar Bourbon, Papua New Guinea V. planifola, Madagascar Mexican cure |
2 ounces of beans per 1 cup of rum |
12-18 months |
Dark, rich, with notes of molasses. Can overpower the vanilla if not enough beans are used. |
Captain Morgan |
| Spiced Rum |
V. planifolia, especially Ugandan, Madagascar Bourbon, Indonesian, Papua New Guinea V. planifola, Madagascar Mexican cure |
2 ounces of beans per 1 cup of rum |
14-24 months |
Dark, complex, sweet, and warm. Kraken is a good brand. Can overpower the vanilla if too few beans are used, or not enough time has elapsed. |
Kraken, Sailor Jerry's, Captain Morgan, |
| Brandy |
Mixed beans--1 part V. tahitensis and 1 part V. planifolia |
2 ounces of beans per 1 cup of brandy |
12-18 months |
Fruity, unexpected. Can overpower the vanilla if too few beans are used. |
Christian Brothers, Paul Masson |
| Bourbon |
V. planifolia, especially Madagascar Mexican, Ugandan, Indonesian, or Madagascar Bourbon |
2-3 ounces of beans per 1 cup of bourbon |
18-24 months+ |
Intense, warm, mature, deep, unique. Very subjective--some people love it, some people don't. |
Woodford Reserve, Jim Beam, Makers Mark, Evan Williams, Wild Turkey |
| Other |
Any/all that anyone thinks might work |
When experimenting, 2 ounces of beans per 1 cup of alcohol is wise |
12 months |
If you want to experiment--and we recommend you do--find an alcohol in the 80-100 proof range, make it into extract, and see how you like it! |
Tennesse Honey fortified with Everclear, Parrot Bay 90 proof Coconut Rum, Cinnamon Moonshine |
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*It should be noted that any alcohol in the 70-100 proof range will make vanilla extract with any type of vanilla bean. The rule of thumb for ratios is 1 ounce of beans to 1 cup of alcohol, or 10 g beans to 100 ml alcohol for single fold extract. Darker alcohols benefit from more beans, aka doublefold or triplefold. Gentle warming of the extract, or splitting the beans before extracting, can speed up the extraction time. The extract is "done" when you like how it tastes, so the suggested times here are just that--a suggestion. You can check earlier to see how you like it. More results, including specific brands of alcohol, can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oFv9CyeeKn3mCrj1zSmQLS-jI80VU-Qo8Xa5JAwEJDg/edit#gid=2100838714
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