Hawaiian Vanilla Bean Farm

One of the highlights of our trip to Hawaii was touring a vanilla bean farm in Paauilo, Hawaii on the Big Island of Hawaii.

It was about 1-1/2 hours from Kailua-Kona where we always stay but it was a very scenic and enjoyable drive.  We have not been to Hawaii in 10 years since we went in 2011 for our 30th anniversary.  I wrote about that trip here and it's so good to be back.  

We love it here.  Our trip overlapped with my sister and her husband 

and also my brother and his wife. 

We always go to our favorite beaches and snorkeling places, although when we first arrived, the beaches were closed because of high surf warnings so that was very exciting.  Instead, we watched the lifeguard have a busy day on the beach and then watched the surfers enjoy the rare 8 to 10 foot waves that evening while we ate dinner at a restaurant with the best view called Papa Kona.   

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We also went to a seniors PGA golf tournament at Hualalai Golf Course when we first arrived and saw some of our favorite golfers like Vijay Singh and Ernie Els that we also saw at the Masters when we went in 2010. 

Bruce has played several times since we've been here; his favorite thing to do.  He is friends with a local guy and they play together any chance they get. 

We also like visiting our favorite coffee bean farm called Greenwell Farms.  They give the best tours with very entertaining guides and of course, you can stock up on your pure Kona coffee. 

The Greenwell family started this farm one-hundred years ago and they still  have the original coffee trees

and the original coffee mill (which they no longer use, of course)

I love touring these family farms and hearing the stories of how they started out and prospered.  The Hawaiian Vanilla Company is also a family farm that the dad started as a hobby growing vanilla beans.  The sons remember their house being engulfed with vanilla bean plants taking over every room in their house.  Eventually, they got a greenhouse and started selling the vanilla beans to a local ice cream company.  They became the first commercial vanilla bean operation in the U.S.  The dad has since passed away but the sons still run and grow the business.  They have since gotten rid of the greenhouse because vanilla beans do much better under shade tents and the sons continue to modernize their technique of growing vanilla beans.   

Each plant has to be self-pollenated so it is a very labor intensive crop to grow and the most expensive to purchase after saffron.  The son who gave our tour, explained to us how to make our own vanilla extract so I am eager to start that new project.  Bruce and I decided we are going to use vodka with one bottle of vanilla beans and dark rum with another bottle.  They sell bottles with vanilla beans as a little kit to get you started and then you can just keep replenishing your source of vanilla extract, sort of like a sourdough starter.  I'm eager to try it out!

I also bought some of their vanilla extract because it's very pure.  He said to use a little less than the recipe because it is a very strong vanilla.  Usually when I use vanilla, I just dump a bunch in to get more vanilla flavor!  Maybe I won't have to with their product.  

Another great thing about this tour was that they provided a lunch that another son prepared for us.

He would come out and explain to us the next course and how it was made, everything was made with vanilla.  It was amazing.  First, we had vanilla infused ice tea or lemonade.  You could combine the two like an Arnold Palmer only instead it was called a " Jimmy Boy",  named after their dad.  

Cheers to the memory of a great dad who left behind a wonderful farm for his family to carry on his legacy.  

 

The tea and lemonade were not very sweet at all but very flavorful and you definitely tasted the vanilla.   They have many of their recipes on their blog and they also do a large mail order business so you can purchase their products, of course.  After we got our beverages, we got our appetizer that was an "amuse" of garam masala shrimp cooked in vanilla butter served on a crostini with our vanilla pineapple chutney.

Now, this was extremely tasty,  sort of sweet and spicy at the same time.  A perfect appetizer, for sure. The main entree was a Vanilla Bourbon Marinated Chicken Breast on a Vanilla Sweet Bread Bun topped with caramelized onions with two sauces to choose from. One was a Vanilla Barbecue Sauce and the other was a Vanilla Mango Chutney Aioli.  The salad was topped with a Vanilla Raspberry Balsamic Dressing, Vanilla Honey Peppered Pecans and feta cheese. The potatoes were baked in a Vanilla Southwest Rub.  It was all magnificent, to say the least.  

When we returned from the walking tour, they provided their vanilla bean ice cream and coffee while we scouted out the gift shop and stocked up on all our vanilla items.  Farm tours do not get much better than this.  Add to the fact that you are in Hawaii and this was a tour that tops off all the rest.  Aloha!