Vanilla General Description Vanilla Beans are the long,greenish-yellow seed pods of the tropical orchid plant, Vanillaplanifolia. Before the plant flowers, the pods are picked,unripe, and cured until they’re dark brown. The process takes upto six months. To obtain Pure Vanilla Extract, cured VanillaBeans are steeped in alcohol. According to law, Pure VanillaExtract must be 35 percent alcohol by volume.