We love cinnamon! We use it all the time, especially around this time of year. We put it in everything; coffee, cereal, toast. We even put it on our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, stir it into our ice cream and toss it in with our popcorn! If you use cinnamon as much as us, you’ll be interested to know that cinnamon is not always consistently what you think it is. Cinnamon actually comes from two types of trees, the Cinnamon and Cassia trees, which grow wild throughout Asia. Indonesia produces 40% of the world’s Cassia cinnamon, and Sri Lanka produces 90% of the world’s “true” cinnamon. Food Industry professionals can distinguish between cassia and true cinnamon, but as for us? It’s usually cassia that we’re bringing home.

Cassia – Indonesian Cassia, Saigon (Vietnamese) Cinnamon, Chinese Cinnamon

* Cassia cinnamon, from Southeast Asia, has the strong, spicy-sweet flavor most Americans are familiar with.
* Vietnamese cassia and Chinese cassia are the sweetest, strongest and spiciest varieties. Vietnamese cinnamon is considered by many to be the world’s finest cinnamon. They come from the same tree, but they are harvested and processed differently.
* Korintje cassia cinnamon comes from Indonesia, and this is your typical “supermarket cinnamon.” It comes in grades A, B and C. B and C are usually what’s sold in supermarkets. If you get one of those big containers for real cheap, it’s probably C-grade cinnamon, which can be bitter and astringent. A-grade cassia is sweet and mellow.

True Cinnamon – Ceylon Cinnamon. This cinnamon barks curl into quills when dried, the familiar cinnamon sticks we see today. Cassia bark is not supple enough to curl in the same fashion, and is sold as pieces of thick bark.

* Ceylon or “true” cinnamon, from the cinnamon tree has a less sweet, more complex, citrusy flavor. Also known as “old-fashioned cinnamon,” it has a higher oil content and is sweeter than cassia. When cinnamon bark is peeled from the tree, the outer bark is removed, unlike cassia, which uses both inner and outer bark. So true cinnamon has a less dense and more crumbly texture.

Now you know!