Cinnamon

Cinnamon is the inner bark of a tropical evergreen tree. Cinnamon comes in ‘quills’, strips of bark rolled one in another. The pale brown to tan bar strip is generally thin, the spongy outer bark having been scraped off.

There actually are two kinds of cinnamon as we know it. True (Ceylon) cinnamon comes from a tree – Cinnamomum zeylanicum – native to Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Seychelles and Tanzania. This cinnamon is known for its naturally low coumarin content. 

The other members of the cinnamomum genus are “Cassia“: cinnamomum cassia (Chinese cinnamon), C.Burmanni (Korintje, Padang cassia or Indonesian cinnamon) and C. loureiroi (Saigon cinnamon, Vietnamese cassia, or Vietnamese cinnamon) The cassia bark is coarser and thicker than the cinnamon bark. It has a more intense aroma and has higher essential oil content. Cinnamon can be distinguished from cassia by its lighter colour and much finer powder.