I started a vanilla extract with equal amounts (six and six) of Tahitian and Madagascar Vanilla Beans. The beans I purchased from an eBay seller who specializes in selling just beans. They were nicely cheap, and look to be great quality. I have done infusions before, and over time I have found that blending the vodka with the infusing ingredient helps infuse at a quicker rate. I like to make a vodka ginger infusion that tastes amazing after only one month of sitting. When that month is up, I strain it with a tightly woven muslin bag. That takes out all but the finest dust out of the ginger infusion, and leaves behind this beautiful film, cloudy sheen that settles to the bottom of the bottle. If I let it sit for a day, the dust settles, but shaking it gives the infusion a shiny and quite exotic look. Much more attractive. Back to the vanilla extract. So I liquefied the vanilla beans with the vodka until it was a nice mash, put it inside of a clean Georgi Vodka bottle, and have let it sit now for a week. There are so many little black specks of beans. Its beautiful. The smell is starting to develop nicely. Very sweet and heavenly. It has a thick rich vanilla candy aroma. My only concern so far is the color. Maybe I need to do more research into vanilla extract colors, because mine is not black. Do commercial products add artificial coloring? Does it just take time for the extract to develop the brackish coloring? It is umber. The color, I feel, is getting a bit darker, but nothing like the glorious black I see in commercial products.
