I’m convinced that “vanilla” meaning “plain/no flavor” is because the makers of vanilla ice cream cut down on the amount being used so much that people associated it with flavorlessness.

An early shrinkflation.

It doesn't help that "vanilla" flavored products usually use a tiny drop of artificial vanillin.

Real vanilla has a much richer amazing taste. But even the artificial stuff would be ok if they just put more of it. That shit is cheap, pour it in dammit.

I'm growing my vanila orchid! 2 years in, just 8 years to go!

I understand it as not plain, but the normal. The go to. The first choice.

This pretty much sums up my feelings on vanilla.

For the people that can't see images, Here is video with a dramatic reading.

Lots of things taste like vanilla, but that generic vanilla taste is as authentic as the generic banana taste. Real vanilla tastes very different from the chemical imitation that you find in every cheap dairy product. The "plain" in this story is refering to that fake vanilla. Real vanilla is still very much rare, expensive and exceptional.

Edit: fun fact, the fake banana taste is actually based off of the "gris michel" banana. This specific banana cultivar was THE generic banana you could buy in every grocery store. Until the 1950's when almost the whole species went extinct due to a decease. The "panama disease". Heavy monoculture farming made the banana industry extremely suseptible. Within a few years, all major farms were destroyed. Now we have a different banana cultuvar, the "Cavendish". This banana is not susceptible to the panama disease,but variations of the panama disease are allready showing up around the world.

That's because 90% of things with "vanilla flavour" just have vanillin in it and that's it, while real vanilla has other stuff alongside vanillin in it which makes the flavour different, just try to eat stuff with fake vanilla and then eat stuff with real vanilla, you will notice a big difference

Missionary is the vanilla of sex. And I mean that in the best way.

Vanilla is my favorite smell. Back in college when my buddy went to Mexico and brought back cup souvenirs for friends, he didn’t get one for me. Instead he gave me a big bottle of fancy vanilla. I kept that thing at my computer desk and every so often for the next couple years I’d pop it open and take a big rip of the smell just to feel a little more alive. It was so great.

It's the finest of the flavors.

the problem with vanilla, is that we dont have its definitive natural, and vanilla orchid is pretty hard to cultivate too. it gets complicated when you are trying to find out the origin of vanllia in s america, and the original pollinator. i think people still do it by HAND.

its because like most orchids, it prevents self-fertilization through its flower structure, and requires by hand, which is cumbersome and tedious. vanilla is pretty hard to cultivate.

and normal people, horticulture are unable to do it effectively either.

Vanilla flavor is simple and straightforward. The funny thing about food is that the simpler the recipe is, the more important the quality of the ingredients has to be. Since more and more foods are enshittifying, vanilla is starting to taste very bland and boring. I remember the days when Breyer's had actual vanilla beans in their ice cream and that tasted delicious. You wouldn't say that about them now though.

Vanilla is "plain" because it's incredibly inoffensive and mild.

"VANILLA IS A FLAVOR!"

-Tiger Wiger

I'm so into vanilla it's crazy. Seriously. Practically any dessert.

It's because people are so used to tasting it in sweet foods.

IMO, where vanilla really comes into its own is in very small amounts in savoury foods.

This is a vanilla meme.

As someone who gets issues with Chocolate. Vanilla has always been my go to. Finding good Vanilla ice cream is amazing. Having bad Vanilla ice cream though is so bad. Binging with Babish did a taste test of all Vanilla ice cream he could get his hands on. Benjerry had the best bang for your buck and is dam good but if you want the real good stuff Mcconnell makes you see what you have been missing in your life.

I believe the cultivation of the vanilla orchid is a milestone on the cultural definition of everything sweet (in addition to invention of corn syrup).

yeah we should start calling it Boring instead

like "are you kinky or boring?" LOL

I sort of imagine that it is used so much in everything that it became the basic level default.

People are talking about the real vs artificial, but there's another component here. Many sweets have vanilla regardless of if they have any other flavorings. This results in it being very similar to cheese is on pizza, where you only call it cheese because it's only cheese.

Just get it from beaver butts. Way easier.

vanilla doesn't mean plain, it means more someone like: original, unaltered