maui-hawaii-vanilla-beans
Culture, Environment, food, Lifestyle, maui, Travel

Growing Maui Vanilla Beans

6 Comments

The harvest and drying season in Maui for vanilla beans has just ended, and pollinating season has just begun. Growing a single vanilla bean takes about one year: In May, vanilla orchid flowers bloom, during which time they must be pollinated by hand with a paintbrush. If that goes well, a single bean will erupt from each flower. Nine months later, the vanilla beans are ready for harvest. After three months of drying, the beans are ready to eat, and the annual process starts again.

This year was a bumper crop, according to one Maui grower, who pollinates about twenty thousand orchid plants by hand each year to produce the decadent Madagascar variety of vanilla beans. There are less than a handful of vanilla growers in Hawaii, and only two are working on such a large scale.

maui-hawaii-vanilla-beans

Vanilla beans in the process of drying

Growing vanilla beans does lend itself easily to commercial processes, which is why genuine vanilla flavor costs more than artificial. Vanilla orchids lack natural pollinators, so each plant must be pollinated by hand, using a tool like a small paintbrush. The window of time for pollinating stays open only as long as the flower blooms. The process is hectic, painstaking, and time-consuming. And there’s no guarantee the pollen will bear fruit.

But for growers and connoisseurs alike, there is no substitute for the rich, creamy flavor of real Madagascar vanilla. It’s the variety favored by pastry chefs around the world. The other variety, Tahitian vanilla, has a more floral aroma and lighter flavor. I like to grind up real vanilla beans and mix with Maui sugar or infuse them whole into a bottle of rum for baking.

6 thoughts on “Growing Maui Vanilla Beans”

  1. I didn’t know they grew vanilla beans on Maui…They say there’s nothing better than using real vanilla beans!

  2. hello, would it be possible for me to obtain cuttings from vanilla bean plants? yours is the madagascar variety?
    is it possible to get the tahitian variety here in hawaii.

    thank you and aloha alan m.

    1. Since vanilla beans are the fruits of certain types of orchids, you will need the whole orchid plant — a cutting won’t do it. Contact the orchid society local to you for more info.

  3. Hello! I will be visiting Maui in the next couple of weeks and wish to purchase a handful ( 1/4 lb. or so) of beans so that I can make the extract for personal use. Are your beans available for the public to purchase, and if so, where might I find you? It would only be worth the time and effort if your price is more reasonable than what the super markets and health food stores are charging- the best I’ve found, so far, is $5.00 a bean. I look forward to your reply- with a big mahalo, Yvonne x

Comments are closed.