A perfect gift for a healthy foodie came in the form of beans...delicious smelling vanilla beans that is. For Christmas this past year my mom gifted me a Vanilla Infusion Kit from Salt Sisters, which included a unique glass bottle with three fragrant organic vanilla beans. (Well, my kit actually included extra vanilla beans so I could make multiple batches.) And my clever mama found more bottles for me to make the extra batches. Yay, a gift that would lead to more gifts! I love it.
After several months of waiting for the infusion to take place, I finally have my very first bottle of homemade vanilla extract. It was finished infusing just in time to make a special birthday cake for my hubby. Perfect! It was divine and had just as strong flavor as any store bought vanilla I'd ever used but at a fraction of the cost. See the breakdown below.
Salt Sisters Vanilla Infusion Kit: $31.25
Extra vanilla beans for two more bottles: $7.95
Cheap, bottom-shelf vodka: $6.99
Grolsch 4 pack of beer to use the bottles: $7.99
Total: $54.18 for 3 16oz bottles (48 oz)
Grand Total: $1.12/oz
Local grocery price: $9.89
Online health store, Vitacost: $8.09
Grocery cost for 48 oz (12 bottles): $118.68
$2.47/oz
Online cost for 48 oz (12 bottles): $97.08
$2.02/oz
Instructions::
1. Have your hubby drink 2 Grolsch beers. (He loved this idea already!)
2. Clean your beer bottles and dry them. Add 2 beans to each bottle. (The Salt Sisters bottle came ready to go.)
3. Fill bottles with Vodka.
4. Store in a cool dark place for several months. This could take anywhere from 2-4 months. Mine took three and a half months before there was no alcohol smell.
5. Use, gift and enjoy!