Origins

Vanilla beans where first harvested on wild orchids in Mexico. It wasn't long before the exquisite smell of these long thin fruits maturing under the humus was noticed. The first mention of vanilla is in the Chronicles of the Aztec sovrein Itzcoatl (1427-1440).
The aztecs knew the maturing technique that allowed the spice to preserve all it's aroma and had probably been using it for centuries to prepare vanilla flavored chocolate beverages, as it would soften the bitterness of the chocolate. It was called "Tlilxot Chitl" in the aztec language, meaning "Black Bean". It then took another century for a european to give it a more latin name.
Christopher Columbus brough it back to europe during his third trip to "India" in 1518. When his conquistador Hernàn Cortès entered the city of Tenochtitlan, later to be known as Mexico City, the aztec emperor Montezuma offered them vanilla flavored chocolate beverages in gold cups. It could also be found as a symbol in their different ornaments.
Pre-Colombians also used vanilla as a potent diuretic and depurative. They also thought it to have aphrodisiac and curative properties.
For more than two centuries the orchid would only grow in Mexico. It was then discovered that a endemic species of bees made the pollination possible. It is only in 1836 that the belgium botanist Charles Morren discovered a way for man to pollinate the vanilla orchid by hand.A few years later in 1841 this method was applied in the Réunion island by a young 12 year old slave named Edmond Albius, and his method is still used today to make the finest of vanillas in Tahiti.

Species

There is more than a hundred different known species of vanilla. Only three have historicaly been used to produce beans.

Vanilla Planifolia or Vanilla Fragrans.

This is the most produced type of vanilla in the world. If it was produced in Madagascar or Comores Islands it is called Bourbon Vanilla. It can also be found in India, Ouganda, Indonesia, Mexico and Tonga Islands.
This species has the highest amount of natural vanillin.

Vanilla Tahitentis Moore.

It was introduced in French Polynesia by French Admiral François Alphonse Hamelin in 1848 from the philippines. In the 50s French Polynesia was the second producer of vanilla in the world, right after Madagascar.
Nowadays labor prices being so different, it's low amount of vanillin and it's strong aniseed aroma penalized it in favor of the Bourbon Vanilla.

Vanilla Pompona Shiede.

It is mainly found in Martinique, Guadeloupe, and tropical America countries such as Brazil and Guyane. It is also known as "vanillon" or "banana vanilla" because of it's short and fatty beans. It has a very low production rate and it's vanillin level is very low.

It is important to note that vanilla beans are often traceable by needle marks made by the producer during harvest. Not to be confused with insect bites, a very rare occurrence.

The Vine

The vanilla tropical orchid that originated from Mexico is very delicate and grows as a vine. It is the only orchid with an edible fruit. It will grow using it's roots to attach on a plant or small tree for it's shadow it is perfect for tropical regions.The etymological name of vanilla comes from the spanish word vanilla originating from the latin name vagina which means seed, or pod. The vine is very flexible with very little branching as it develops from the main bud and can be more than 30 feet high. It can easily be stem cut for propagation because of the open air roots located where the leafs and the stem meet.

If left alone, it will keep on growing on the support, with very few flowers. To stimulate flowering growers fold the higher parts of the plant downwards, which also keeps the flowers accessible.

The Flower

Leaves are flat and oval with a pointy end, growing only to one side of the vine at each knot. About three times longer than wide they can up to 5 inches long.
Flowers are in groups of 8 or 10. They only bloom for one day and rarely more than one flower at once. They can be white, greenish or pale yellow, they have the classic structure of an orchid despite their singular appearance.
Each bean comes from a single hermaphroditic flower, they carry both male and female organs, the anther and the stigma. A membrane is protecting those organs to avoid self-pollination, and this is why each flower needs to be hand pollinated.
That membrane needs to be lifted with a sliver of bamboo or wood so that the pollen can then be transfered from the anther to the stigma. These flowers only last for a day, sometimes less, this makes the manual pollination a very labor-intensive task. After it's manual pollination it will transform into a long and thick green odor less bean.

This is where the preparation of the bean plays a major role to help it express all of it's aromas. You will now find in the process section of our site how we grow our orchids and mature our beans to produce the finest tahitian vanilla.