I didn’t want to hijack the recent vodka thread, but I have a related question.
I made several batches of homemade vanilla recently with the Cooks’ Illustrated recipe (Heat vodka; add halved and scraped beans. Shake jar for a week.) We’re not vodka drinkers, and my husband bought the cheapest vodka he could find. I’m not sure of the name brand. The vanilla smells okay, but it has a bitter aftertaste when sampled straight. I’m open to suggestions–is the problem here the vodka, the alcohol (i.e., I should try rum or bourbon instead), or my own hypersensitivity to bitterness…or something else entirely?
I think the quality of the vodka is the issue. Get a small bottle of a higher-end vodka (or take a Brita pitcher and a filter you’re willing to waste on just filtering vodka through maybe 5 times) and try the experiment again.
I don’t what the typical alcohol content of vanilla extract is, but maybe it’s lower that the vodka you used. Cheap vodka can have a bitter flavor, but some people say even good vodka does, even though it should be little else besides water and alcohol. I use straight ethanol to make liqueurs and I don’t detect any bitterness, but I drink straight vodka so maybe I’m just accustomed to it.
All vodka has a ‘bite’ in the aftertaste to me, except vodka made from potatoes (which is only a subset of the high end vodkas - most high-end vodkas are still grain, and mostly marketing).
But I’ve never Brita-filtered vodka - maybe that trick works.
I’ve heard about the Brita filter thing several times. I find Stolichnaya to be just fine, so I’ve never resorted to that. Grain vodkas would have something not found in potato vodka (fusel alcohol maybe?), but may have barley added to get enough sugar for the fermentation process. Filtering does seem to be a big factor in removing the unwanted flavors from vodka though. I think most vodka is used in mixed drinks anyway, and I’m doubtful that people can really tell what type of vodka they are drinking after it’s been mixed with something else, but I can definitely tell the difference between Stolis and Absolut when I drink it straight.
Thanks for the responses so far. I don’t have a Brita filter, and I’m not sure I’m willing to go to that expense (…after all, the vanilla was an attempt to save money :)).
Does anyone have experience with other alcohols to make vanilla? Or is the bitterness unlikely to affect any final product made with the vanilla?
(Oh–from what I’ve read, there’s typically less alcohol content in purchased vanilla extract; vanilla is water- and alcohol-soluble.)
My wife and I had good luck* getting a 375 of Absolut, pouring about half into a pitcher, putting the beans in, and filling it back up. I think it was $12 for the bottle back when we did it.
I imagine rum might work well- it would have some rum like flavors, but unless you used something along the lines of Gosling’s or Myers Dark, they would be fairly mild.
Bourbon would be interesting, although I’m sure it would be obviously Bourbon-ish.
good luck as in there wasn’t any real difference between our vanilla-fied Absolut and commercial pure vanilla extract.
BTW, one cultivar of the vanilla orchid is Bourbon vanilla or Bourbon-Madagascar vanilla, from Indian Ocean islands such as Madagascar and Réunion, formerly the Île Bourbon.
In Germany, dishes with real vanilla nearly always use the term “Bourbon-Vanille”. More than once I have seen people assume a connection with the whisky. One time a mother sternly denied some custard to her crying son since “it’s not for kids, because there is much alcohol in it”.
