The Flavor That Comes From Wood Pulp

Most people have never actually tasted real vanilla.

Almost all vanilla ice cream you’ve ever eaten was flavored with a chemical called vanillin. It’s the main component of real vanilla, but it’s extremely easy to create artificially. You can make it from wood pulp and petrochemicals.

Real vanilla comes from cured seed pods of an orchid called Vanilla planifolia. If you wanted to grow your own, you’d have to pollinate each flower by hand. In the wild, only a tiny Mexican bee called the Melipona can do it. Everywhere else in the world, humans have to play bee.

Each flower opens once a year. For a few hours. In the morning. If you miss that window, no vanilla for you.