The Maui Island Vanillery
Maui Island Vanilla grows and harvests its own Vanilla Beans at its Vanilla Orchid plantation in Haiku on the northern slopes of the dormant volcano, Haleakala, on the Hawaiian island of Maui. A family-owned business, each plant is tended and pollinated by hand.

How to Grow Vanilla Beans
The aromatic vanilla bean is the cured seed pod of the Vanilla planifolia orchid. The plants are usually propagated from cuttings rooted in sphagnum moss or potting soil and sand. We grow the orchids in large pots and train the vines up on upright logs. It takes up a year for the young plants to flower.

A healthy plant may produce 300 flowers in one season. Vanilla flowers last only one day and must be pollinated by hand as the plant's natural pollinators (bees of the genus Melapona) are not present in Hawaii. Luluk Rich is the expert pollinator. She uses a thin bamboo skewer to delicately transfer the pollen ball from the flower's stamin to ovary. The window of time for this delicate proceedure is between sunrise, when the flower starts to open, until about 1 pm, when it starts to close.

Fruits soon appear, but take six to nine months to ripen. However, harvesting the vanilla bean is not the end of the process. To create the aromatic chemical vanillin, the beans must be cured and fermented. This requires from six weeks to two months.

After curing, each bean is scraped and scored by hand to bring out the maximum infusion of flavor. The richly scented vanilla beans are finally ready to be incorporated into our hand-packaged products.

As you have seen, vanilla bean production is seriously labor intensive making Vanilla the second most expensive spice in the world... Saffron is first.

About Us
Maui Island Vanilla is owned and operated by Luluk and Mike Rich in Haiku, Maui where the rainfall and climate are perfect for growing the vanilla Orchid. They began just 5 years ago with a handfull of tubers and a desire to create a source of vanilla in Hawaii. Luluk specializes in the planting and pollination, while Mike, a veteran PGA Golf Professional, “helps out.”

“It's good therapy for us,” says Mike, “You come outside, pollinate a few plants and you feel really great.”

VANILLA BEANS
VANILLA SUGAR • VANILLA HONEY

MAUI ISLAND VANILLA BEANS
Maui Island Vanilla Beans are grown in the moist rain forest climate of Haiku on the north slope of the dormant volcano Haleakala. Each flower is carefully pollinated by hand producing large, flavorful, aromatic beans.

Vanilla Extract Recipe
You can make you own, genuine, Vanilla Extract by warming 4 ounces of Dark Rum on medium heat. Pour into a bowl and add 1 vanilla bean cut slightly about a dozen times. Cover and put the bowl in a warm place for 3-4 hours. Remove the bean, bottle and seal your true Vanilla Extract.

MAUI ISLAND VANILLA BEANS are grown on Maui, Hawaii.

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MAUI ISLAND
VANILLA SUGAR

Maui Island Vanilla Sugar is a unique blend of Maui plantation white raw sugar and MAUI VANILLA BEANS. The Maui vanilla beans are split and the vanilla seeds are mixed with the raw sugar, then allowed to age for several weeks, resulting in a rich sweet vanilla flavor and aroma. The seeds are then removed and the sugar hand-packaged with split vanilla beans to heighten its flavor.

You can add your Maui Island Vanilla Sugar to coffee or tea and also bring extra flavor to baked goods and other desserts. Sprinkle it on fresh fruit, cereal, oatmeal, waffles and french toast.

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MAUI ISLAND
VANILLA HONEY

Maui Island Vanilla Honey combines our aromatic vanilla beans with honey produced only on Maui. This tasty blend of Tropical Blossom and Christmas Berry honey is created by a family-run apiary in Wailuku and is unique in its flavor. We add a split Maui Island Vanilla Bean to each jar to heighten this flavor and aroma.

Use Maui Island Vanilla Honey in coffee or tea and to add new flavor everywhere you now use plain honey.

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