Vanilla tahitiensis otherwise known as Tahitian Vanilla is cultivated mostly along the arable lands of the south pacific especially French Polynesia-Tahiti, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. The Tahitian Vanilla, unlike the Madagascar Bourbon species (Vanilla planifolia) is rare; it’s only a small fraction (~1%) of the world’s natural vanilla production and deservedly nicknamed “the Queen of Vanilla”. It has a floral taste and fragrance, different from the Madagascar Bourbon species. The bean pod is also plumper than the Madagascar Bourbon species, and have higher oil and moisture content. Vanilla bean pods are graded after they are conditioned and ready for use. The grading is based on moisture content, length of the pod and lack of dehiscence/wholesomeness of appearance. High moisture content, long, oily and dark seed pods with no splits/dehisces are given the highest grade, A, the Gourmet grade. The Gourmet grade/Prime grade/Grade A, typically has about 30% moisture content, are 5” or longer and 1lb contains about 100 pods. The grade B beans have about 15-25% moisture content, are relatively shorter, may have some blemishes and 1lb contains between 140-160 bean pods. The conditioned fruit seed pod with the vanilla flavor houses thousands of tiny, black seeds. The pods and the seeds are both useful for culinary purposes.