Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This order was put in 2 days after our initial order of the identical product. The first order was good enough that after setting up the beans in vodka for vanilla extract, we immediately ordered again. What a gross difference! The packaging was completely different, the beans where shorter and smaller, and there was very little vanilla aroma. We prepared the beans identically. At 2 days the earlier bottle already smelled great. Checking the odor every day when I shake the bottles, there is very little vanilla smell in the newer batch 6 days out. Grade B, or split beans, are typically used for making extract, the reason being they are left on the vine until the bean becomes so ripe it splits. This extra time on the vine allows stronger and more complex flavors, with a higher concentration of vanillin. These beans showed no signs of being split beans- in fact the opposite was true. I suspect these beans were picked early. Our first order was vastly better, but I will now wait for next year's crop before making further batches of extract. As many of you know, Madagascar was hit by a cyclone in 2017, which decimated vanilla farms. Most of the world supply of vanilla beans come from Madagascar. In 2011 prices were as low as $10 per kilo, by 2015 vanilla beans were about $100 per kilo, and they peaked at about $800 in 2018 after the cyclone. Because of the high prices, theft became a real problem, so to avoid losses to theft farmers started picking them before they were mature, and before they developed their full flavor. It takes about 3 years for a vanilla orchid farm to reach real production, so the supply of beans is coming back to slowly. Prices are coming back down , currently $450-500, and quality is improving. All this said, this company sent us one nice (though not great) pack, and one pack (in completely different packaging, so from another supplier) which never should have been sold.