I’m sitting here waiting for an ice storm to pass over us. My fingers are crossed that we keep our electricity, but I’m not holding my breath. I’m keeping this one short.
I have been making my own for vanilla for a while now. It sounds like a fancy thing to do, but all it is, is a few vanilla beans in a bottle of vodka. I have used different brands over the years, but find that this is my favorite.
When I first arrived in my little town, I chatted with a member of liquor store’s staff about brands I had used in the past and what she might recommend. She had a good laugh over the fact that I was going through all of this to make vanilla and was sure she wouldn’t go through that much vanilla in a lifetime.
I asked why some vodkas smell more like alcohol (I think like hairspray) than others. She explained that tends to be the case with grain vodkas and went on to recommend this potato vodka instead, apparently a customer’s doctor gave him the order “don’t drink vodka, but if you do, drink Glacier”.
I contacted the company to find out what would make this a doctor recommended vodka. The best guess was that potato vodka is gluten-free. Now if you are going through enough vodka that the gluten is the problem, then I’m not sure the gluten really IS the problem, but either way, this is how I make vanilla.
here’s an after and before shot
vanilla
split 3-6 vanilla beans and drop into a bottle of vodka
gently swirl bottle
set in cool place for around 6 months – swirl bottle every 2 weeks or so
Tags: gluten free, vanilla
I keep intending to buy a cheap bottle of vodka to do this with. We have about all the vanilla sugar we can stand, but I hate to just throw the leftover pods away–they smell so good!
Go for it Meryl – you’ll love it!
I need to do this…I go through a lot of vanilla, and it’s
expensive. This looks very simple to do, so thanks!