buying vanilla

[sickofsnowinmich]

Hi - will be visiting costa maya and cozumel next week on our cruise. I have read that you can buy vanilla at one (or maybe both) of these ports. Can anyone confirm which port and where I can buy some. Has anyone else bought some and had good luck with using it for baking once home?

 

Thanks :)

[092306]

You can find it in lots of stores in both of those ports. I bought pure vanilla in Cozumel in Cinco Soles. You have to read the bottle and make sure it says no coumarin. I haven't tried baking with it, but my mother puts it in shakes and says it tastes very good.

[crewsweeper]

Cozumel also has a couple of larger grocery stores where locals shop and you can find a wide variety of vanilla extracts in them, and possibly less expensive than around the port. Do check for coumarin. And for the pure stuff, make sure it's 35% ethly alcohol, and if possible look for amber colored translucent liquid not dark and murky. Watch out for laughably low prices. More common in toruist areas not where locals go. Cinco Soles does have a decent rep for their vanilla, but that's not an endorsement.

[sickofsnowinmich]

So what is coumarin and why do I need to stay away from it?

[greatam]

Cozumel also has a couple of larger grocery stores where locals shop and you can find a wide variety of vanilla extracts in them, and possibly less expensive than around the port. Do check for coumarin. And for the pure stuff, make sure it's 35% ethly alcohol, and if possible look for amber colored translucent liquid not dark and murky. Watch out for laughably low prices. More common in toruist areas not where locals go. Cinco Soles does have a decent rep for their vanilla, but that's not an endorsement.

 

PLEASE be careful of the "good stuff". It is highly flammable and anything a quart or over in the USA has to be labeled HAZ MAT flammable for transport. That means it is really not allowed on a plane.

 

I own an international logistics company that moves primarily food products worldwide. I know I was totally shocked about 20 years ago when we first started moving some of the Mexican and other countries pure vanilla. One company handed my driver HazMat signs for the side of our trailer. I argued, I called DOT. Sure enough, due to the alcohol content, it has to be transported as HazMat. Really spooky for some of my other food vendors to see hazmat signs on the side of the trailers when they know their food products/additives are in the trailers. Took some explaining to quite a few companies.

[crewsweeper]

So what is coumarin and why do I need to stay away from it?

It's a sweet smelling chemical compund found in a variety of plants like the tonka bean. Has a vanilla like taste. Thus it has been used in making synthetic vanilla extract. It can be toxic to the liver and is banned by the FDA in the US. In plants it serves as a natural pesticide.

[sickofsnowinmich]

It's a sweet smelling chemical compund found in a variety of plants like the tonka bean. Has a vanilla like taste. Thus it has been used in making synthetic vanilla extract. It can be toxic to the liver and is banned by the FDA in the US. In plants it serves as a natural pesticide.

 

 

That's not overly comforting :eek:- I will be sure to check the labels of any that I buy. Thanks for the info!!

[RuthlessBunny]

There are plenty of great vanillas at reasonable proces at Penzy's or Trader Joes. Is it really all that important to buy vanilla in Mexico?

 

Given the hassle with transporting it back home and the relative price savings, wouldn't you rather not bother?

[lmt425]

Hi - will be visiting costa maya and cozumel next week on our cruise. I have read that you can buy vanilla at one (or maybe both) of these ports. Can anyone confirm which port and where I can buy some. Has anyone else bought some and had good luck with using it for baking once home?

 

Thanks :)

 

 

i know you've already been on your cruise by this point, but i just wanted to remind other people that vanilla is a -liquid- and so it is restricted on planes. if you buy 1 ounce bottles or less you can put it in ziplock in your carryon. otherwise you need to have it in your checked luggage.

 

same with hot sauce ;)