20 Planifolia Vanilla Gourmet* from Mayotte (from 2 Pods)
Organic Vanilla Planifolia Gourmet*
Origin and Terroir: Mayotte
Harvest: 2022
Curing: Ripe and sun dried, *some pods might start to crystallise
Refining: > 9 months
DDM: 31.12.2025
Mayotte vanilla is a little similar to "Bourbon" vanilla, and notably awarded with the silver medaille at the 2022 salon de l'agriculture de Paris. The beans are quite large, fleshy and oily, with light spicy pepper flavour and orange flowers notes harvested at full maturity like it's done in Polynesia with the Tahitensis. This is one Planifolia we love too as it offers a larger range of aromas and flavors and tend to crystallise* with age.
* Vanillin crystals is the natural end expression of the benzenoid crystal that matures inside the pod. Within properly cured vanilla pods vanillin functions as an important conservative, and its content should be high enough before curing and refining in order to stimulate natural immune resistance to mold and create delicious dark fragrant vanilla smell and flavours.
Vanillin crystals are a natural concentrate and a sign of excellent quality of the vanilla pods. You can recognise them as they shine in the light and look like white spines or literally shiny sharp glass-like tiny “diamonds” of vanilla, such as the THC residue on excellent marijuana plants.
When vanilla pods have this high vanillin content they can be kept for years under excellent storage condition, in glass tubes or glass jars well protected from light. Crystalline beans also have an amazing and powerful smell and tend to dry out over time so the smell and flavor packs into the plant matter but does not diffuse aromatically through the air without interaction or extraction. The flavor literally soaks deep into the skin and seeds and retains inside the pod.
Beans measure from 13 to 20 cm for an average weight of 2 to 5g. A kilo is about 200 to 500 beans.
Moisture: 35%
Vanillin: +/- 2.2%
Packaging: 2 pods or more in glass tubes or glass jars or in sachets
Mayotte origin certified