See, I'd just assume you were getting pretty much the same thing and Nielsen-Massey was just overcharging for it. 

mb — yeah they have had bad weather in madagascar and it’s ruined the crops — vanilla is made from an orchid and for best results is pollinated individually by hand — only one certain day can they be pollinated by hand — other markets pollinate a field at a time not by hand and that’s one reason madagascar’s is better by far — lots of small farms there —

tcd — I know!  I was really upset at that price and that was like five years ago

just got back from costco — was thirty bucks for 16 ounces — just fyi

What brand? Single fold?

surely single fold, mb — it’s the store brand kirkland’s or is that sam’s club store brand — might be mccormack but it’s just the little squirt bottle — it’s what i’ve always used for big batch baking —

I needed a vanilla bean paste for my vanilla bean IMBC (I am so over scraping the beans) and found 'Blue Cattle Truck Trading Company' Mexican vanilla bean paste on Amazon. The price and ratings were good so I gave it a try. Oh, good Lord-- it is the best stuff for frostings or puddings-- anything where you stir it in later (I read once on this forum that vanilla flavor cooks out enough that you can't tell a difference, so I use cheaper, imitation in my baked goods). The base for this paste is Mexican vanilla extract and it is all natural with no preservatives. I use it teaspoon-to-teaspoon for vanilla, but it is pretty flavorful, so you could probably use less. The price comes out to about .58 a teaspoon as opposed to Penzey's single strength at.94 a teaspoon. Not sure you can follow the link, but here it is: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Cattle-Truck-Trading-Co/dp/B00T8OF1GM/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8  Hope it helps!

This is the kind of thing I love about this place   Hardly anywhere else can one one find such helpful information—everyone willing to help others   Oh how I hate the thought of loosing this forum!   

I don't post that often--when I finally get around to it, most of my thoughts are already spoken :) But I also get sooo much good from this forum-- is it going away?

It is not being maintained - that's why there is sooooo much awful span & we are unable to access/pull up soooo many of the pix :(   From what little we (as a group) have been able to learn it is paid for through 2020.  After that who knows what willhappen.

I wondered why there were so many weird posts! Sorry to know its time is limited!

baker beach — very good to know and I’m so glad that this brand comes right out and says “coumarin free” — their prices for their regular vanilla are in line with current prices so thanks for the heads up on the brand —

Blue Cattle Truck is often ranked as one of the top brands in extract reviews. The have a traditional pure extract and one with a lower alcohol content, too.

I've never heard of it till today -- talk about being out of the loop!