We read every review that comes in, and most are short and kind. This one, left on Google in July by a customer in Santa Barbara, reads more like field notes from a working kitchen. We asked if we could share it along with his photos, and he said yes.
“By far the best whole vanilla beans I have been able to source, and I have tried a bunch of purveyors. Juicy, fragrant, good size, consistent quality. The varietals are a fun avenue to explore. I use them as a home cook for jamming (vanilla marmalade), plenty of baking ranging from cookies (Viennese vanilla crescents) to serious cakes (Bavarians/Bavois, Rigo Jancsi), and custards (klafouti, passion fruit custard). Scraped pods are put in blender with some sugar to make vanilla sugar for various applications. Shipment is quick. I typically order 1/4 lb at a time to keep me stocked for a few months.”
Daniel L. Geiger, Ph.D., five-star Google review, July 2026
Daniel is not a casual reviewer. He is a curator emeritus at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, an orchid researcher, and a 25-year home preserver who grows Vanilla planifolia in his own greenhouse. Someone who raises the vanilla orchid himself has plenty of options for beans. He orders ours, a quarter pound at a time.
The photos are his as well. The crescents are Vanillekipferl, rolled while still warm in vanilla sugar he blends from his spent pods, so nothing gets wasted. The custard sits under fresh passion fruit, seed flecks showing. The marmalade is a tangerine and Tahitian vanilla batch wearing his own hand-printed label.
Photos: Daniel L. Geiger, used with permission.
The line we never asked for sits in the handout he gives out at his jamming workshops: “The best beans I have been able to find are from Amadeus Vanilla Beans on the web where I buy them in bulk (1/4 to 1 lb). There are subtle differences between Tahitian and Bourbon vanilla and beans from different sources (Uganda vs. Indonesian), which is fun to explore.”
He also told us about a blind tasting at a Santa Barbara orchid nursery, where bundt cakes baked with Tahitian beans, Bourbon beans, and artificial extract went side by side. “No problem telling them apart.”
The exploring he describes is easy to start. Our gourmet vanilla beans page keeps the origins side by side, most of them in the same quarter-pound portions Daniel keeps stocked, including the rare Pompona variety from Madagascar.
We are a small company, and word of mouth is most of how we grow. More reviews like this live on our reviews page. And if our beans have already earned a spot in your kitchen, a quick Google review is the best thank-you we know.