# Where is the best place to buy jarred dried spices of good quality at a decent price?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-buy-jarred-dried-spices-of-good-quality-at-a-decent-price/997474>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** food-cooking\
**Created:** [February 12, 2024, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-buy-jarred-dried-spices-of-good-quality-at-a-decent-price/997474 "2024-02-12T14:22:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-buy-jarred-dried-spices-of-good-quality-at-a-decent-price/997474/41 "2024-02-14T04:25:36Z")

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> [@nearwildheaven](#):
>
> I’ve got a fifth of vodka with vanilla beans steeping in it. The whole shebang cost about $25, and most of that was for the vanilla beans.

> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> How many vanilla beans do you add to a fifth of vodka?

I was going to ask that, and how long you let it diffuse before using. A fifth is 25.36 ounces, more than three times the volume I’ve been using, so I’d guess you have to wait quite a while, unless you’re using a lot more beans than I did.

> [@CairoCarol](#):
>
> Not necessarily. Some trustworthy source (The New York Times, maybe? I forget now) did a blind taste test and found that vanillin, which is chemically the same as a real vanilla extract but produced in a lab rather than on an orchid, was actually preferred.

All right, I’ll confess, we didn’t do a blind taste test. But the good thing is that, in the long run, making your own is even cheaper than buying the fake stuff.

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-buy-jarred-dried-spices-of-good-quality-at-a-decent-price/997474/42 "2024-02-14T16:29:15Z")

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I wonder if using grain alcohol and diluting it down would produce better and faster results, or if it might extract some undesired flavors. I know my father (and I when I briefly got into the hobby) would use vanilla in some of our homemade herbal liqueurs, and we’d extract it in 192 proof Spirytus grain alcohol. Then we’d bring it down to around 80-100 proof with a sugar and water solution, but the sugar is only there for the liqueur. You can use straight water, of course.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-buy-jarred-dried-spices-of-good-quality-at-a-decent-price/997474/43 "2024-02-14T18:42:59Z")

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That will work. I’ve done it with Everclear.

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**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-place-to-buy-jarred-dried-spices-of-good-quality-at-a-decent-price/997474/44 "2024-02-14T21:29:53Z")

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Many people stuff the bottle with vanilla beans, but I just used a 2-pack, slitted the long way and steeped until I wish to use it.

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