Sun Drying

The Vanilla beans start out quite damp. First, they are dried under direct sunlight and then laid in the open air, alternating between sun and shade, driving out moisture. Too much sun can over-dry the beans and ruin the vanillin, leaving it brittle, and rendering the sticks useless. The beans are closely monitored and sorted according to the moisture content. Each individual bean is hand massaged to make sure drying happens evenly. The process lasts 2 months. During this process, the bean turns from green to yellow and finally brown.