As a Computer Science guy, I have to start with a Hello World!
I’ve been searching for more detailed information about creating my own vanilla extract since I started making my own in early 2023. That bottle that I first used in the summer of 2023 is now a very, very good extract, but I did not keep any notes on just how I made it. As I remember, the instructions were just to put a number of beans in an amount of vodka.
At the beginning of 2025, though, I needed to put together another bottle and since I was in the process, I decided to do a bottle for each of my sisters. Since it was intended for others, I considered it would be best to get better instructions this time around, and … the search was very frustrating. I kept finding things like “any 80 proof vodka will do!” and “4 to 5 vanilla beans per 8 ounces (1 cup) of alcohol” and “It takes about 6-8 weeks for your extract to develop a dark color and really good flavor”. The instructions were too non-specific.
The FDA has a definition of Vanilla Extract which includes these criteria: 13.35 Oz of beans at 25% moisture steeped in 1 gallon of finished product with an ethanol level of 35% or less by volume. And it may also contain glycerin, propylene glycol, sugar, dextrose, or corn syrup as an additive.
Again, amazingly non-specific.
I have questions on which of these make a difference:
Quality of the alcohol. My guess is that it does. How much? Is a $30 bottle vastly different than a $10 bottle?
Type of alcohol. Again, my guess is that it does.
Grade of vanilla beans. Grade B beans are specifically marketed as for making extract … but does a Grade A bean make a better extract?
So here we are … My goal is to devise experiments to determine the answers to these questions.
