More pix first. Then explanation.
So this is going on the fifth year I'll be farming Vanilla. My operation is microscopic but it's a work in progress. I've got maybe 300 vines all in. I got some Vanilla off this planting 2 years ago, and this was the first vines I planted. Which is some what typical for Vanilla. Usually 3-5 years before they really become productive.
I fertilized these back in May/ April. It's a tiny yield but next year I expect to have maybe 5-20x this amount, which means if I can sell some of it, I'll finally be able to cover some of my costs.
Right now I have about five varieties. All from either trade or from hiking to old plantations and looking for feral populations. This one is a variety of Tahitiensis and I made a vanilla bean whip cream a few months ago with it. It's a very distinctly 'bourbon' flavor. Like i ground it up in a mortar and pessle and it straight up smelled like whiskey.
So not close to enough to sell (again) this year. But next year and the following years, maybe this hobby will finally start paying itself off.
What's the difference between them, if any? I didn't realize there's so many different types of vanilla.
The bourbon one is really interesting.
Oh man. Wildly different. I have one variety I got from another grower who is growing at almost 800 meters. I'm basically at sea level. It hates it here. I have three varieties doing extremely well for me. And with those I've tested them on both my small farm and with another grower who has more land, but has a climate which gets some salt air impact. The varieties that do well for him are very different than the ones that do well for me. I also have one more "ornamental" variety which is variegated. Its clear to me that any grower is going to need to do some experimentation (or just get lucky, much easier) with varieties to find one that works for their climate.
In regards to flavor, I think there is probably much more variety available than what you find in a store, which is almost all Madagascar or Mexican. I would say for me, Mexican vanilla is more interesting, because all Madagascar vanilla is basically the same variety (afaik). I think Vanilla is very much like wine. There is a huge impact of variety; but also where you grow the plant and how you grow the plant, and then how do you post-process or cure the vanilla? All of those impact the flavor profile.