Take your beans and use a small, sharp knife to gently score each bean lengthwise. You don’t want to cut all the way into the middle, just score the outer skin. Then cut the beans into 1/4’s or 1/3’s.

Put the beans in your jars or into your bottle of vodka. NOTE: If you are making a big bottle, you will need to pour off about 1 cup or so of the vodka initially to make room for the beans. You can pour some back in at the end or save it to add in later once you use up some of the vanilla.

Pour vodka into the jars to the fill line [base of the threaded part]. You want to leave that 1/2″ head space so that you can shake the jar.

Close up the jars with the lids and give them all a good shake.

Give your bottle/jars a shake daily, or at least a few times/week. It generally takes 6-8 weeks for the vanilla to be initially ready. You will notice even within a few days that the vodka is turning tan, then browner and browner.