Customer Reviews

6 Award Winning Mexican Vanilla Beans

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my second purchase from Arizona Vanilla and I am very pleased with the vanilla beans that I have ordered from them. The beans are very fresh & fragrant, and make the best vanilla extract-I'm on my second batch because I just had to share with my friends-and the shipping speed is incredible! I shop exclusively at Arizona Vanilla now, and I've passed along their website addy to all my friends who are interested. Arizona Vanilla is truly the best in the West!!!

Whole vanilla beans come in three "flavors": Mexican, Tahitian, and Bourbon-Madagascar. Because Mexican beans are reputed to have the boldest, best vanilla flavor, I had to try some in my favorite "speckled vanilla" ice cream recipe. Usually I make this recipe with the more common Bourbon-Madagascar beans.

The Mexican beans did not disappoint: they produced an especially delicious, full-flavored vanilla ice cream. In the future, Mexican vanilla beans will always be my first choice for making plain vanilla ice cream.

The Mexican vanilla beans that I purchased from Arizona Vanilla were plump, moist, and beautiful. Although they were a little more expensive than Bourbon-Madagascar beans, they were still far less expensive than the whole vanilla beans sold in spice jars in grocery stores. The Mexican beans were a little shorter and smaller than the Bourbon-Madagascar beans that I purchased from a different seller, but this is probably a characteristic of the different plant types.

If you're looking for a great book of ice cream recipes, consider The Best Ice Cream Maker Cookbook Ever, which includes the "speckled vanilla" recipe. (The "speckles" are the tiny vanilla seeds that you scrape out of the whole vanilla bean pods.) If you're looking for slightly less expensive whole vanilla beans, consider Premium Bourbon-Madagascar Vanilla Beans - 7 beans.

These beans were not plump and soft and poignant, like the other beans we ordered from a different seller. They were quite expensive, considering their quality. That being said, it is harder to find Mexican Vanilla beans--the other buyer we bought Madagascar beans from doesn't sell Mexican vanilla beans at all. I'm sure our Mexican Vanilla is still going to turn out well. I was just spoiled with the other beans, I guess.

The Mexican beans that I ordered from Arizona Vanilla Co. came from a company called Halal Everyday. Halal means lawful or clean according to Islamic law. I am not Muslim and feel that failing to disclose the fact that food/food products are prepared according to religious laws that I do not accept is a fraud. Arizona should state that their products are Halal for the benefit of all their customers Muslim and non-Muslim.