What exactly is Bourbon vanilla?
Originating on Bourbon Island (now called Reunion Island) in the Indian Ocean off the East Coast of Africa, the process for producing the best vanilla beans in the world now refers to beans grown and cured in the nearby islands: Madagascar, the Comoros Islands and Reunion. By far the most important of these is Madagascar, which produces more than 60% of the world’s vanilla, and where these finest of vanilla beans, known as Bourbon beans come from.