Royal Aroma

Vanilla is an orchid and is said to be the „queen of spices“.
On this page, we are pleased to show the labour intensive curing process of Aust & Hachmann’s vanilla.

THE PLANTATION
In the tropical bushes the vanilla grows wild on trees. In Madagascar and other vanilla producing countries the vanilla grows on plantations.

MANUAL LABOUR
The vanilla orchid is a hybrid. But the insect for the pollination does not exist in Madagascar.
Therefore each flower has to be pollinated by hand. The flower is open for only one day.

MATURATION PROCESS
The flowers produce after nine months green, flavour- and taste-neutral vanilla beans of up to 22cm length. After the harvest, the beans are put into hot water in order to stop the maturation.

SWEATING
The beans are wrapped in blankets to lock in the heat. Within the first two days of the curing process, the beans inherit their dark brown colour.

A LONG WAY
During the long curing process the vanillin develops. Vanillin is the most important ingredient of the vanilla bean. The beans get thinner and turn from green to brown.

UNIQUE AROMA
Due to their unique aroma the Bourbon vanilla beans from Madagascar are the most popular quality amongst consumers.

GRADING AND BUNDLING
After the curing process the vanilla beans are graded according to their moisture content, length and quality. Beans of the same length are bundled with a string and packed in tins lined with heavy wax paper.