Shrunken Skull - Tiki Drinks and Food

TG The Gnomon Member MD-DC-VA Joined: May 01, 2007 Posts: 1293	TG The Gnomon Posted posted on Wed, Jun 13, 2007 1:33 PM On 2007-06-07 08:04, professahhummingflowah wrote: This raises the question: What are your favorite brands/suppliers of cinnamon sticks? I started looking online awhile back for l-o-n-g (12" – 16") cinnamon sticks and found several sources, but stalled when I ran into this one: Ceylon Cinnamon vs. Cassia I'd often wondered why sometimes cinnamon sticks were thin-barked and had a deep robust flavor while other times they were very hard, thick-barked and not that flavorful. After visiting the Ceylon-Cinnamon site I began to understand some things about so-called "true" cinnamon (Cinnamomum Zeylanicum) and all the rest, which is cassia (Cinnamomum Cassia). Ceylon-Cinnamon.com, obviously, wants everyone to buy their stuff, so they are a bit condescending toward cassia. But for use in Tiki drinks, cassia seems to be the best bet. If you want the best quality of flavor and nutrition of the cinnamon (a must if you're cooking anything with a high concentration of cinnamon in it) you'll want Ceylon cinnamon. Both Ceylon and Cassia contain a toxin called coumarin. Cassia contains fairly high levels of couramin whereas Ceylon does not. If you just sprinkle cinnamon on things, then it doesn't matter which type you use (except for flavor considerations), but if you use lots of it in your recipes, Ceylon is definitely the way to go. I think most of the "cinnamon" we find in stores, whether in stick form or ground, is really cassia. Ceylon cinnamon is very delicate and it's quills (sticks) break very easily, so they don't make very good Tiki swizzle sticks. Plus, I don't know where you can get Ceylon in quills longer than 5". I have yet to buy anything from these places. Just did the research. The Spice Barn sells 16" cassia, but I think the place that I'd try first would be The Spice House. The Spice House has: Whole Stick Indonesian Cassia Cinnamon 12" Whole Soft Stick and Ground Ceylon "True" Cinnamon Vietnamese Cassia "Saigon" Cinnamon Korintje Cassia Cinnamon China Tung Hing Cassia Cinnamon and Cassia Buds

On 2007-06-07 08:04, professahhummingflowah wrote:

This raises the question:

What are your favorite brands/suppliers of cinnamon sticks?

I started looking online awhile back for l-o-n-g (12" – 16") cinnamon sticks and found several sources, but stalled when I ran into this one:

Ceylon Cinnamon vs. Cassia

I'd often wondered why sometimes cinnamon sticks were thin-barked and had a deep robust flavor while other times they were very hard, thick-barked and not that flavorful.

After visiting the Ceylon-Cinnamon site I began to understand some things about so-called "true" cinnamon (Cinnamomum Zeylanicum) and all the rest, which is cassia (Cinnamomum Cassia). Ceylon-Cinnamon.com, obviously, wants everyone to buy their stuff, so they are a bit condescending toward cassia.

But for use in Tiki drinks, cassia seems to be the best bet. If you want the best quality of flavor and nutrition of the cinnamon (a must if you're cooking anything with a high concentration of cinnamon in it) you'll want Ceylon cinnamon. Both Ceylon and Cassia contain a toxin called coumarin. Cassia contains fairly high levels of couramin whereas Ceylon does not. If you just sprinkle cinnamon on things, then it doesn't matter which type you use (except for flavor considerations), but if you use lots of it in your recipes, Ceylon is definitely the way to go. I think most of the "cinnamon" we find in stores, whether in stick form or ground, is really cassia.

Ceylon cinnamon is very delicate and it's quills (sticks) break very easily, so they don't make very good Tiki swizzle sticks. Plus, I don't know where you can get Ceylon in quills longer than 5".

I have yet to buy anything from these places. Just did the research.

The Spice Barn sells 16" cassia, but I think the place that I'd try first would be The Spice House.

The Spice House has:

Whole Stick Indonesian Cassia Cinnamon 12"
Whole Soft Stick and Ground Ceylon "True" Cinnamon
Vietnamese Cassia "Saigon" Cinnamon
Korintje Cassia Cinnamon
China Tung Hing Cassia Cinnamon and
Cassia Buds

Post #312694 by The Gnomon on Wed, Jun 13, 2007 1:33 PM