Vanilla Extract- How many beans for 1.75 L?

[cjzimmer1]

So I have a bottle of vodka that is 1.75 liters. How many beans should I add to this to make extract? I'm not making this for Christmas so I'm not in an hurry but I've seen directions from anywhere of 4-5 beans per large bottle (but large is undefined) to 1 bean per cup (but how many cups are in 1.75liters?). I'm assuming I'm actually going to have to pour some vodka out of the bottle simply because it's so full that I don't think I can put many beans in without overflowing it. But if you had a bottle this size how many beans would you plan on using?

 

Thanks so much

[KatA]

My guess is 7-8 beans. 1.75 l = 7.4 cups

[Miss Peregrine]

:iagree: I used 7.

[cjzimmer1]

1.75 l = 7.4 cups

 

 

Is that all? It "looked" like a whole lot more than that.

 

My beans arrived in today's mail and the note their says use 1/4 pound per 1 quart. So almost 1/2 a pound per bottle. They say a half pound contains aprox. 70 beans. That's like 10X what both of you are saying. I can't imagine trying to stuff that many in the bottle. I'll definitely use a smaller amount than they recommend because I want to save some for vanilla sugar as well.

 

Thanks for the help to both of you (even though I only quoted one of you).

[Szuszu1]

I've bought 25 beans which weighed 2.0 oz, another 25 beans weighed 2.5 oz. Then, I bought 4 oz of beans and ended up with only 27 long, plump beans. So, I always go by weight over number when i'm dealing with beans. 

 

Personally, 1/2 oz beans to 8 oz alcohol is the sweet spot. That's about 3.5 oz of beans for a handle (1.75 L) of alcohol (assuming you pour out 4 oz to make room for the beans). If you let that sit for 6 months in a dark space, shaking every few days, it makes a HEAVENLY vanilla. 

Buy a 4oz packet of beans and use the extra 1/2 oz for vanilla sugar. 

 

Good luck!