Best port to buy vanilla; eastern carib??

[GLCAS]

We will be in St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Martin, Antigua, San Juan, Labadee, Haiti. Which one would be the best for buying vanilla? Have you bought it there? thanks for you suggestions.:)

[jdvmd]

We will be in St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Martin, Antigua, San Juan, Labadee, Haiti. Which one would be the best for buying vanilla? Have you bought it there? thanks for you suggestions.:)

 

Did you post this somewhere else on Cruise Critic? I swear I read this same question somewhere else this morning and there were numerous replies. St. Maarten/St. Martin is a good spot. If you were going to Grenada, there are some good spices to be found there also. Mexico is known for vanilla as well.

[GLCAS]

No I haven't posted elsewhere, but thanks for the info!:)

[BlueRiband]

We will be in St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Martin, Antigua, San Juan, Labadee, Haiti. Which one would be the best for buying vanilla? Have you bought it there? thanks for you suggestions.:)

 

Are you in the US? In that case buy vanilla only in a sealed jars or sealed bottles of extract. If you try to bring in loose vanilla beans the Customs agents will make you throw it out in front of them. I was on a 5-port Caribbean voyage last year and one of the ship's hosts warned me not to buy loose spices or a spice necklace for that reason.

[jdvmd]

No I haven't posted elsewhere, but thanks for the info!:)

Sorry! Someone else asked the same question about vanilla. I am sure you will find some good stuff. Have fun.

[Hlitner]

DW is a darn good chef (she says cook) and we have discussed this subject. The reality is that your best bet is to go to a decent cooking store (or a high-end supermarket) and buy "Bourbon Vanilla." If you watch some of the top cooking shows you will note that most of the top chefs use this type of vanilla (unless they are using vanilla beans). Tahitian vanilla is also of similar quality although the Bourbon (from Madagascar) is the accepted standard. Some argue that Mexican vanilla is the best stuff from south of the border, but since some of this uses a poison called "coumarin" it is probably not a good thing to buy. In fact, the FDA has banned the sale (and use) of coumarin in the US. Coumarin does mimic the taste of vanilla, but its certainly not the real thing and its quite poisonous.

 

Hank

[BillB48]

We have bought the "good" vanilla in Mexico on a number of occasions, but honestly I don't care for it at all. Where the Mexican vanilla had a wonderful vanilla aroma, it imparted a tasted that I could not put my finger on. We have not found anything that even comes near Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract. We ordered it from Williams-Sonoma and yes it is pricey, but it goes a long way.. worth it:)!

[Bankshot]

Can't help you w/ the bean or extract but St. Kitts makes a mean local vanilla flavored rum. We just brought two bottles home last month. It's great for after dinner or just sipping on a rainy day.

[jaybird from SC]

Have brought back vanilla, loose (but packaged) species and necklaces and never had any problem with customs. Got the spices in Grenada but the best vanilla in Barbados.