My vanilla is extremely dark and it has only been one week! The vanilla I bought was a “red type” of vanilla bean which means it has lower moisture content and essentially it just doesn’t look like the thick juicy vanilla beans that one might imagine when they think of a typical vanilla bean. Despite the beans being dried up little guys they are obviously packed full of vanilla goodness because my extract has darkened so quickly and it has only been about 10% of the recommended extraction time.
For reference this is what they looked like right after jarring.
