Tj Maxx For Vanilla Extract?...
Decorating By Paintedlady201 Updated 24 Feb 2007 , 12:37am by heiser73
I was at TJ Maxx yesterday looking for stuff for my daughter's bedroom and came accross an aisle I'd never looked at before. It was all kinds of food stuff. Oils, cookie mixes, vinegars, and then I saw these bottles of vanilla.
I found one by Sonoma Syrup Co, it's a special blend called Pure Vanilla Bean Extract "Crush." The description says "Madagascar Bourbon & Tihitian Vanilla with Vanilla Bean Seeds." I paid $7.00 for it. Has anyone ever bought this before or heard of it? Did I get a good deal? It was marked down, but still.
In an adjoining aisle they had more of the Sonoma bottles, but these were regular Tahitian Vanilla, not the "Crush" ones. They were $12.00. I didn't buy any these because they had a bunch and I was intrigued by the other one first. Anyone familiar with this brand and know whether or not it's worth going back for?
I'm pretty sure this is flavored simple syrup, so it can't substitute for vanilla extract. Sonoma Syrup Company has several of it's syrups sold at Peet's Coffee & Tea locations, which tend to sell fairly high-end candies and foods (you can even find little bottles of saffron threads there sometimes!). I've never tried any of the syrups even though I've been tempted to, and I've never seen the specific one you describe. I bet it's a pretty good product, though. If you want to try using it cake-wise, maybe you could brush a little of it on cake layers before frosting or something like that. It's probably tasty added to coffee and tea beverages too.
This is what I found when I went to the Sonoma Syrup Co. website:
Exclusive blend of vanilla extract from the finest quality premium Madagascar bourbon and Tanitian vanilla beans attains the highest desirable taste notes. The Vanilla Crush sells for $18.50 for an 8 oz bottle.
I was there last month and they had that syrup there as well. I think its used to flavor coffees and make italian sodas that kind of thing. But mine also had some nielsen-massey vanilla for $12.00 for an 8oz bottle. I bought it and there is no difference from the bottle I just purchased online for much more money!! Just thought I would tell you all that
Ok, here are the ingredients.
Select bourbon and Tahitian vanilla extractives in purified water, vanilla bean seeds and alcohol.
It goes on to say that one tsp of vanilla crush = 1 tsp of regular vanilla
It doesn't sound like a syrup, unless I'm just unfamiliar with their terminology. 
I bought a couple of bottles at my local Marshalls and they are wonderful to work with. The combination of both types of beans and the vanilla beans inside are great...but I paid $12.99 for mine... 
I think when they first got them in they were priced the same, but the one I found was on clearance. It was the only one I found. All of the regular Tenitian vanilla bottles were $12.99.
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