So I started with the typical homemade vanilla extract. Just some beans in a bottle of cheap vodka. I don’t even remember what kind since I pulled the label off. I had clearly been using it for the odd dish here or there.

The thing is, it was actually starting to get good and slightly darker but I can’t remember how old it was at this point.

I had had a discussion with @thebravetart about home made vanilla extract and it being weak and I thought there was a chance it could be reduced.

So into the pan it went.

I’m not exactly a precise cook. I don’t know how long I let it go but it was  on the lowest heat possible. About the time it took me to mount this shelf on the wall in the kitchen (yay, storage!)

The kitchen smelled delicious. The vanilla extract looked darker. I thought we were making good progress. So I let it cool and dug out some mini bottles, filled the bottles and then tasted a bit. Nothing, the flavor was gone. I had dark water.

So what’s the plan? Besides pouring this out?

Since it had been getting better with age: I’m going to get another cheap bottle of vodka, add some vanilla beans and pop it into the back of the cabinet where I will promptly forget about it and hopefully get a real batch of vanilla extract a proper amount of time to age. We’ll see if I remember to check on it in a year or so.