Vanilla Bean Powder, our flagship Vanilla Powder , is La Botanique Sacrée’s matière première vanilla powder: premium Bourbon‑type pods, sun‑cured in Madagascar, then gently dehydrated and finely milled in France. 

The whole‑bean vanilla matrix is preserved, giving deep mahogany colour, speckled appearance and an unmistakable bouquet that stands apart from common vanilla extract or artificial flavourings. 

Single‑origin sourcing, slow drying below forty °C, and zero additives safeguard volatile vanillin, minor phenolics and delicate floral notes. In blends the powder supplies round sweetness, aromatic warmth and visible seed flecks that signal craftsmanship.

Chemical Composition

Vanilla Bean Powder carries approximately two per cent vanillin, supported by more than two hundred trace aroma molecules such as p‑hydroxybenzaldehyde and anisyl alcohol that build layered fragrance.

The matrix also contains polyphenols that lend gentle antioxidant behavior, plus minerals including potassium, calcium and trace magnesium.

Because the entire pod is ground, the fibre fraction reaches twenty‑five per cent, providing structure without chalk.

Cold milling limits thermal degradation, preserving vanillin crystallites that form after thirty days of curing.

Each gram of Vanilla Bean Powder infuses recipes with about two hundred milligrams total aroma compounds, outperforming liquid extracts stripped of moisture‑sensitive volatiles.

Origin & Nutritional Composition

Madagascar’s Sava region supplies hand‑pollinated pods harvested at peak maturity. Farmers blanch, sweat and sun‑dry the beans for six weeks, coaxing enzymatic conversion of glucovanillin into vanillin.

Finished pods grade “haut de gamme” before export to France, where they undergo low‑temperature dehydration and cryogenic grinding. 

The resulting Vanilla Bean Powder delivers roughly three calories per gram, one half gram carbohydrate, and retains the beans’ natural oil—around ten per cent—ensuring aromatic persistence. 

No sugar, maltodextrin or anti‑caking agent is added.

Reported Health Benefits

While Vanilla Bean Powder is primarily prized for flavour, laboratory studies attribute mild antioxidant and potential mood‑supportive properties to vanillin and related phenolics.

Research suggests vanillin may modulate neuronal pathways linked to calm focus; however, these findings remain early‑stage and not intended as therapeutic claims.

The lignin‑based fibre fraction promotes digestive regularity, and the natural oils supply trace sterols that support mouthfeel.

Cultural Significance & Historical Significance

Totonac communities of Veracruz revered vanilla as a sacred flower, using cured beans for ritual perfumes and cacao beverages.

Aztec traders adopted the spice, naming it tlilxochitl and transporting it to Tenochtitlán.

Spanish chroniclers carried vanilla to Europe in 1520, where apothecaries first sold it as a medicinal tonic and later as a patisserie mainstay.

Nineteenth‑century botanist Edmond Albius devised hand pollination on Réunion Island, liberating cultivation from Melipona bees and enabling Bourbon production in Madagascar.

By 1900, Madagascar supplied eighty per cent of the world market, a position it still holds. Today Bourbon Vanilla Bean Powder signals both colonial spice history and contemporary terroir craftsmanship.

Flavor Profile

Expect fragrant notes of vanillin crystals, soft marshmallow, honeyed tobacco and faint dried fig. Alcohol‑soluble fractions unfold slowly on the palate, giving sustained warmth without heat. Tiny jet‑black seed specks add visual luxury and mild crunch.

Fun Tidbits

• One kilogram of cured pods requires hand pollination of over three thousand orchid flowers.
  
  
• Bourbon vanilla owes its name to Réunion’s former title, Île Bourbon.
  
  
• Vanillin crystallises as white needles inside fully cured beans, visible when split.

Vanilla Bean Powder embodies the modern apothecary ideal: naturally complex aroma, nutrient integrity and archival provenance. Fine particle size ensures seamless blending, while the visible seeds echo laboratory precision and antique herbarium visuals.

We source Grand‑Classic premium vanilla pods from a “Visuel Haut de Gamme” selection. Pods grown in Madagascar’s Sava valley are slow‑cured, gently dehydrated below forty °C, then stone‑ground in France.

Products featuring ground thyme

• MATCHA SAL – velvet finishing salt with ceremonial matcha, yuzu zest, strawberry crunch and Vanilla Bean Powder.
  
  

• PSALM BAKE – Nordic baking blend with turmeric, wild blueberry and Vanilla Bean Powder.
  
  

• SWEETLIPS – floral citrus dessert dust built on lucuma, Bourbon Vanilla Bean Powder and hibiscus.
  
  

• PEP’RONI - Pizza topper of oregano, smoked salts, sun-dried tomato, and layered chilies with a subtle vanilla bean echo.
  
  

• NOOCHAS Vanilla Maple - Snackable nooch blend with coconut sugar, cinnamon, lucuma, and vanilla bean powder, lightly salted.