13 Planifolia Vanilla Givrée from Guadeloupe

Organic Vanilla Planifolia givrée
Origin: Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe
Terroir: Saint-Claude (culture agroforestière JMR)
Harvest:  2023
Curing: Ripe, scarified and sun dried
Affinage: > 12 months
DDM: 31.12.2026
 
Planifolia from Guadeloupe develops a unique aromatic palette with singular notes of maraschino, pronounced liquorice, earthy with fresh tobacco leaf and wood notes in the background, and full of vanillin crystals*. This exceptional vanilla is grown in the southern region of Basse-Terre, on a volcanic soil nestled under the canopy of the tropical rainforest. It's a limited production, mostly allocated to Chefs.
 
* 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 +- 18 cm for an average weight of 3 gr. A kilo is about 330 beans.
Moisture: +-28%
Vanillin: +-2.9%
Packaging: 2 pods or more in glass tubes or glass jar or in sachets
Guadeloupe origin certified