Sonoma Syrup 3-Bottle Extract Set
$39.99 $60.99 34% off List Price
Vanilla Bean Extract “Crush”, 8 oz.
Pure Vanilla Extract, 8 oz.
Pure Almond Extract, 8 oz.
Extracts are largely made using the same process. One is no better than another. Hell, the best extract I have I paid next to nothing for from Mexico. 40 dollars for 3 little bottles is absurd.
Price could be better, but I’ve used their Vanilla bean extract and it’s much, much better than say McCormick’s organic vanilla extract, this one is truer to the real flavor.
Also I’d be careful about Mexican vanilla, usually they’re made with Tonka beans instead of actual Vanilla beans, these have a toxic substance called coumarin (Google it, it has nasty side effects like stopping your heart if consumed in large doses).
Basically you get what you pay for, but if you want good, safe and cheap stick with McCormick, the taste is really good and $12 for a 6Oz bottle of the organic stuff that will last you a long time is a good deal, the 16Oz for $8 is an even better deal.
These are exceptionally good.
I used to bake professionally and I still bake using the best ingredients I can get, including these extracts. I generally buy them in 16 oz bottles at Home Goods or Marshall’s, at about the same price these are being offered for (so, they’re overpriced here).
Using these will up your game and people will ask you what you use to make your cookies taste so good.
I am tempted to buy these, but are you saying that I can find these at lower prices? These are three-pack, so they are about $15 per 8 oz.
Oops. Now I’m downstairs and could check, instead of imagine, the size. I have 8 oz bottles, I usually pay around $13. a bottle, so this is a decent price. Sometimes home goods doesn’t have them. These are so aromatic you’ll want to swoon.
Often, in brownies, cakes or butter cookies, I’ll mix the almond and vanilla half and half, just delicious.
Check this out if you want to learn more about the differences between vanilla extract and artificial vanilla flavor.
And this little study that Serious Eats did is very interesting. Their tasters could not tell the difference between the fake and the real stuff when cooked in a recipe. When mixed in a drink the only way they could tell was by the slight note of alcohol from the real vanilla.
Coal and wood by products–yum!
I’ll stick with the real stuff.
Interesting…I was checking out their site and they also sell a “Vanilla Bean Infusion kit”. For years I have been making my own vanilla. Vanilla beans,a pretty bottle, and some good vodka (and some time) and you’ve got some good vanilla extract for your baking!
If you have a Ross, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, or Home Goods nearby, you can find better prices there for Sonoma Syrup brand or other really good extracts. They usually run $9.99 or so for 8-12 ounces. The problem is that their supplies aren’t consistent, but they do tend to stock them near holidays.
The best you have, yet one is no better than another?
And, yeah, I think I’d be just a bit wary of extract bought in Mexico for “next to nothing.”
Maybe people can’t tell the difference but I can definitely tell when we use a good Mexican vanilla (ours is labeled coumarin free) vs. Penzeys vs. the cheap stuff, even in baked goods.
It’s like anything else - people spend money on what they value if they have the money to spend. Some people prefer designer clothes, some people prefer organic foods, some people only read paper books, etc. Now arguably these choices have added benefits in terms of quality, etc. but you’re still clothed if you buy clothes from walmart, you’re still fed if you eat a big mac, and the words of Shakespeare are the same on paper as in pixels. It’s all in what you value and there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Use what you like and can afford.
To be pedantic, some cheap vanillas in other countries may be produced with coumarin but coumarin doesn’t stop your heart. It’s an anticoagulant and a derivative is used to treat certain medical conditions. Coumarin is also found in a lot of rat and mouse poisons; the rodents aren’t poisoned, per se, but die instead from internal hemorrhaging. It’s one of those risk/benefit things - small amounts of coumarin could help some people under certain conditions, large amounts are bad for anyone and anything. For the average person, while it’s best to use coumarin-free vanilla, using vanilla produced using coumarin isn’t a death sentence and certainly not in the normal amounts that one may consume via baked goods, ice cream, whipped cream, etc.
This would make a fun gift for someone who enjoys making desserts.
I’m wary of anything I put in my body that can be had for next to nothing, no matter the source. I’m not saying that one needs to buy 40 bucks worth of extracts, but the race to the bottom is a bad idea.
For people who love to bake and don’t want to use fake stuff, these are amazing.
The vanilla bean crush is to die for! I also purchased at TJ Maxx for about 10 bucks. When I ran out and had to buy the regular ol’ PURE vanilla extract at Kroger I poured it back into the Sonoma bottle so I could get all the ‘crush’ goodness outta the bottle. If you are a vanilla purist, this’ll tickle you. 
Actually, if you’re a vanilla purist, the way to go is definitely to buy fancy beans from Beanilla.com and make your own. Their make-your-own kits are great little gifts for bakers!