Making your own vanilla extract?? Did you know you could or even think about the fact that you could? I didn’t until yesterday when Sayward Rebhal from Bonzai Aphrodite, posted one of the BEST ideas for a homemade gift – ever. Check out her post and instructions here.

Funny story – just 2 days ago I used the last of my Penzeys’ Single-Strength Vanilla extract and as I was pouring out the last teaspoon, part of a vanilla bean came tumbling out. I was so surprised, but didn’t stop to think about why it was in there. I just thought, “Yup, that’s high quality stuff.” Well, of course it is, at $11.55 for a 4 oz bottle. There’s a reason too – it’s tasty! Besides the alcohol taste, the flavor is dead on the heels of a true vanilla bean.

So how does the cost transfer from buying to making your own? I did some quick fact gathering and mad math skills.

	Home-made (750 ml)	Penzeys’ Single-Strength	Simply Organic
Smirnoff’s Triple Distilled Vodka	$15.00/750 ml	–	–
Vanilla Bean	$20.00/4 beans	–	–
Total Cost	$35.00	$72.19 (for 6.25 bottles)	$44.38 (for 6.35 bottles)
Bottle Size	6 – 125 ml bottles	1 – 120 ml	1 – 118 ml
Costs Per Actual Bottle	$5.88	$11.55	$6.99 (on sale)

The only deal is you have to wait about 5-6 weeks to reap the reward. That’s it – just waiting – I can do that! After all, I just waited 2 weeks for raw fermented sauerkraut, that would have cost me $88 or more at the store. Making it at home the cost was $9. Yes, big difference!

The other benefit is you’ve seen and monitored the process and you’ve learned something new, which is empowering!

I’m ready to try this…. are you?