Sonas Trading - Bourbon Vanilla Beans

2 Bourbon Vanilla Bean Pods

Our Bourbon vanilla beans come from a small collective cooperative in Papua New Guinea who grow the beans organically in pristine jungle allotments. The entire process of vanilla cultivation, pollination and harvesting is done by hand, without using machinery, chemical fertilisers or pesticides. We challenge you to find anything better in the supermarkets!

Using the Beans

The entire bean is filled with flavour and the pod has more flavour than the seeds. To cut open a bean, lay it flat on a cutting surface. Holding one end of the bean, carefully slice the bean open lengthwise to expose thousands of tiny seeds. You can scrape the seeds from the pod before removing the bean if you choose.

These used pieces of the vanilla bean can infuse their scent into coffee or sugar. You can also make superb vanilla essence by immersing used beans in vodka, and leaving them too steep for at least a few weeks!

Keeping Beans

Vanilla beans will keep indefinitely in a cool, dark place in an airtight container. Don’t refrigerate beans as this can cause them to harden and crystallise. Bourbon beans may develop a frosting of natural vanillin crystals if you keep them for a while.