Whole Beans

Tahitian Vanilla Beans

Cultivated and cured in Tahiti, Tahitian Vanilla Beans are hand-selected for their premium quality. These plump, moist beans have a floral, fruity, cherry-like flavor, found in both the bean and the seeds. The vanilla seeds add gourmet visual delight to a variety of applications. Since this vanilla is susceptible to heat, it’s best in cold or frozen dishes.

Whole Beans

Tahitian Vanilla Beans

Cultivated and cured in Tahiti, Tahitian Vanilla Beans are hand-selected for their premium quality. These plump, moist beans have a floral, fruity, cherry-like flavor, found in both the bean and the seeds. The vanilla seeds add gourmet visual delight to a variety of applications. Since this vanilla is susceptible to heat, it’s best in cold or frozen dishes.

Quantity sizes beans
  • 2
  • Professionals
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  • Sweet ideas: pastry creams, fruit pies and sauces, smoothies, shakes, custards, puddings, yogurt, ice cream
  • Savory ideas: salad dressings, beurre blanc sauce for seafood, sweet potato salad
  • Beverage ideas: agua fresca, punch, mojitos
  • Other ideas: natural car deodorizer
  • Chef’s notes: To scrape a vanilla bean, start from the center, cutting a slit with the tip of a sharp knife. Spread the bean apart to expose the seeds and scrape with the dull side of the knife. Scrape the sticky seeds off the side of the knife. Repeat with the other side of the bean. Delicious vanilla flavor is found in both the bean and the seeds, so try to use both. As long as the bean still possesses its characteristic aroma and is moist and pliable, you can rinse, dry and use it again.

Tahiti, an island which is part of a southern Pacific island chain, has a tropical climate that makes it an ideal location for growing vanilla.  In 1848, French Admiral Ferdinand-Alphonse Hamelin brought Vanilla aromatica plants to Tahiti, and, two years later, French Admiral Louis-Adolphe Bonard imported Vanilla fragrans plants. These two species were skillfully crossbred during the next few decades, resulting in the plump Tahitian vanilla beans we know today, known as Vanilla tahitensis. 

Tahitian vanilla is cured differently than vanilla grown in Madagascar or Mexico.   Mature beans are stacked in a cool place for five to ten days until they are completely brown. They are then rinsed in clear water, a process unique to Tahiti. For the next month, growers expose the beans to the gentle morning sun for three-to-four hours a day. In the afternoon, they wrap the beans in cloth and store them in crates until the next morning, to promote transpiration.

Little by little, the water evaporates, causing the beans to shrink. Throughout this phase, the bean pods are smoothed and flattened by hand between the thumb and index finger. After a month, when the vanilla has received its fill of sunlight, the beans are left for 40 days to dry in a shaded and ventilated spot, which reduces their moisture content.

Vanilla Beans

• Kosher Certified
• Gluten-Free Certified
• Non-GMO Project Verified

1 whole vanilla bean = 1 tablespoon vanilla extract = 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste = 1 tablespoon vanilla powder

What Chefs Have to Say

About our products

It’s no secret, both for cooking and baking, always use the best ingredients. What’s the point of investing time to create something and use average ingredients? Vanilla Extract and Vanilla Bean Paste are my favorites, as well as the Lemon Extract. I like using the Vanilla Bean Paste, as it is the closest to using fresh vanilla pods with all the glorious little seeds, and the consistency doesn’t interfere with the recipes.

Eric Lanlard UK Chef, TV Host, Master Pâtissier and Cookbook Author