Vibrant Vanilla: Mexican Vanilla Extract vs. Imitation

Vibrant Vanilla: Mexican Vanilla Extract vs. Imitation

Are you wondering if there is any significant difference between Mexican vanilla extract vs. imitation vanilla? Learn more.

Keyword(s): Mexican vanilla extract

Did you know that there is a significant difference between imitation vanilla and Mexican vanilla extract? Imitation vanilla is completely synthetic vanillin that is made in a lab. Pure vanilla is made with the extract that comes from the beans of the vanilla plant.

Mexican vanilla, however, is often made with the extracts that come from the beans of the Tonka tree. This is an entirely different plant that belongs to the pea family, and that bean from the Tonka tree contains coumarin.

What is significant about coumarin?

Coumarin is an ingredient used to mix the bean oil with the water in some cheaper extracts. It’s also moderately toxic to the kidneys and the liver. So, how do lovers of Mexican vanilla get to enjoy their favorite flavor? Global Goods Inc. provides the purest Mexican vanilla on the market with no coumarin, no high fructose corn syrup, very little alcohol, and gluten-free.

All of these are just a few reasons why our customers prefer our product and why so many people who try our Mexican vanilla cannot use any other vanilla products again.

Keep reading to discover what makes Mexican vanilla different from imitation and how it’s made.

What Makes Mexican Vanilla Different From Imitation?

To know what makes a difference in taste is to see the difference between each flavor. As we mentioned earlier, imitation vanilla is synthetic and made in a lab. You won’t see any vanilla bean extract in the ingredients (usually). But label laws are different in Mexico. That’s why you won’t see many brands found in Mexico in the United States. That’s true for the airports there as well.    

With Mexican vanilla, the flavor is not mimicking another flavor. It has a taste entirely of its own. You will experience a natural aroma that is to-die-for.

Mexican vanilla itself is one of the most popular flavors globally, and you can use it in just about anything.

You can use it in pastries, ice cream, drinks, and any dessert that you can think of. It can be used how you would use any vanilla; the only difference is that you will experience a natural taste made from natural ingredients and without the toxicity of coumarin or other added imitation ingredients.

Is Mexican Vanilla Extract Made Differently?

Mexican vanilla extract is made by melding together the ground, cured pods of an orchid vine with water and alcohol. Imitation vanilla extract is created using artificial flavorings, food additives, and sugar.

Essentially, it is made from the cured, ground pods of an orchid vine. This melding of flavors results in a uniquely rich and complex taste unmatched by imitation vanilla extracts. However, while it may mimic the flavor profile of Mexican vanilla extract, it cannot replicate its unique depth and complexity.

There’s no doubt that Mexican varieties are the best when it comes to vanilla extract. With their unparalleled depth and complexity of flavor, they add a richness to dishes that imitation extracts cannot match.

What Is the Cost Difference?

Imitation extracts are usually much cheaper than natural ones like Mexican vanilla extract because they use synthetic vanillin instead of real ones derived from the Tonka tree. The significant price drop is not surprising because you are not getting the real thing.

With the purest of Mexican vanillas, you are receiving it in its purest form, and its taste will vouch for that. Our prices can range from less than $10 to just under $230. In addition, we offer multiple sizes to fit whatever your needs.

Not only that, but we work to help others to help themselves. We work with local farmers and families in the areas from which our products are derived. Every purchase made through Global Goods helps someone living in less fortunate parts of the world.

So not only do you receive a high-quality product with high-quality taste; you also get to extend a helping hand to someone that may need it. You can rest assured that you will taste the difference through the quality and affordability of our products.

What Else Do You Need to Know About Our Product?

Aside from being delicious, our product is cold-pressed, contains very little alcohol: 4% to be exact. And although we tell people that the shelf life of our Mexican vanilla is two years, we have known customers that have stored theirs for up to seven.

A fascinating note about extracts is that each one is unique and different. Some extracts won’t last very long before turning rancid while others will last for years without added preservatives. Vanilla for example, lasts a long time and does not require much alcohol to keep it safe. However, the FDA (in an effort to standardize the industry) has passed a law saying that any extract without 35% alcohol must be considered a flavoring vs a pure extract. Yes, you heard that correctly. If you don’t add a high amount of a foreign substance to your product, it cannot be considered a pure extract. We’ve debated that many times in our company. It would be easy to add more alcohol and would in the end make our product less expensive to produce. We could add Vanilla Extract to our label too. But we’re not about following questionable laws just for the sake of adhering to something that makes no sense for our product. At the same time, we’re not going to mislabel our product (also a common practice with Mexican Vanilla in the U.S.). So we comply and add the FDA regulation and wording to our product label as part of our compliance. It helps us sleep at night 😉  

As we have mentioned before, our Mexican vanilla does not contain coumarin.

Additionally, if you don’t want to use it all right away, you can freeze it and thaw it later. It will taste just as good. What sets our product apart from others is that we take pride in providing our customers with the highest-quality products that there is to offer.

We only accept and extend Mexican vanilla in its purest form, and we go above and beyond to ensure our customers that our products are made with them in mind.

It’s Time To Taste Test

Now you know what Mexican vanilla extract is, what imitation vanilla extract is and how they differ. After customers try our Mexican vanilla products, they cannot go back to any vanilla products they used before.

Experiencing Mexican vanilla made from only the freshest vanilla beans while containing no coumarin is too good of an offer to pass up.

When looking for the perfect addition to your next recipe, don’t forget about Mexico’s finest Mexican vanilla extract. Pure Mexican vanilla extract will take your dishes to the next level with its unparalleled flavor profile.

So why not give it a try? Click here to order your new favorite culinary product.