Exploring Vanilla: From Bean to Bake

About this event

Think vanilla is just vanilla? Think again. Join us for an afternoon vanilla party and discover how different beans and spirits shape the vanilla in your favorite desserts. Explore aromas, taste different vanillas, and enjoy a selection of sweet treats along the way. We’ll even create our own extract with vanilla beans to continue the experience at home.

About Diana Weinburg, the Owner & Maker of Via Vanilla:

My interest in vanilla started with a simple question: How different are the beans, and what happens when you change the spirit? I began experimenting with different beans and spirits, discovering how each brought out something different in vanilla—and in my baking. What began as an experiment grew into Via Vanilla, my small-batch vanilla business.

A Melrose resident with roots in the area, Diana has volunteered with the Melrose Farmers Market and supported local entrepreneurs through SCORE. After retiring from her career, she turned her curiosity about vanilla into Via Vanilla, making small-batch pure vanilla extracts and blends in Melrose.