18A Planifolia Vanilla from Tanzania

Natural Vanilla Planifolia
Origin: Tanzania
Terroir: Kagera, Morogoro
Harvest: 2023
Curing: Scalded and sun dried
Affinage: >6 to 12 months
DDM: 31.12.2028
 
Vanilla is a fledging addition to the country's agricultural industry and provides a key source of income to rural farmers who have relied on cash-crop coffee farming for decades. The flowering orchids are cultivated in Kagera, Morogoro and villages lying in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro. The tropical climate and fertile soils are ideal for the Vanilla species, and the northeastern regions of Tanzania are rich with fertile volcanic soils and enjoy plentiful rainfall. Tanzania vanilla beans are creamy with buttery, spicy and woody undertones, is full of flavours and high in vanillin which crystallise* with age, and it adding sweetness and a delicate fragrance to baked goods, as well as enhancing smokey sauces, tangy vinaigrette, spicy curries, rich stews and creamy seafood dishes. The beans are also perfect for vodka- and white rum-infused vanilla extract and smoothies and health drinks, as in coffee and cocktails.
 
* Vanilla frost consists mainly of naturally occurring vanillin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde) that has migrated from the cured pod tissues and crystallised at the surface, usually as white needles, grains or crystalline structures. A high vanillin content can favour crystallisation, but frost formation also depends on moisture, maturity, curing, conditioning and storage conditions. It is therefore a remarkable natural crystallisation phenomenon, but not by itself an absolute measure of overall vanilla quality. 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.
 
Indicative pod length: 16–22cm; as a natural product, pod length, width and individual weight may vary from pod to pod; the stated quantity corresponds to the exact number of pods in the lot sold; the exact net weight is stated separately when packed and invoiced. A kilo is about 220 beans. 
Moisture: +-34%
Vanillin: +- 4.3%
Packaging: 2 pods or more in glass tubes or glass jars or in sachets
Tanzania origin certified