Did you know that what we in the U.S. call cinnamon, most of the rest of world calls cassia? In the same way I doubt we’ll ever convert to metric measurements, though I’ll put a plug in for using gram measurements when baking, we will likely always call cassia cinnamon.
I’m excited to share with you the latest addition to the spice education and inspiration on our site. Our first Video Spice Spotlight focuses on the different types of cinnamon and why some cinnamon gets clumpy when added to liquid.
As though multiple types of cinnamon weren’t enough to keep track of, each type of cinnamon can have multiple common names, but there’s a simple way to cut through the name clutter. Knowing the botanical names will keep you on the right track. They’re ridiculously hard to pronounce at first glance, but you don’t have to pronounce them. Once you recognize what type of cassia or cinnamon you’re after, use the common name.
Cassia varieties:
Cinnamomum cassia (sin-uh-MOH-mum Kass-ee-uh)
aka Cinnamomum aromaticum
- Chinese
- Canto
Cinnamomum burmannii (sin-uh-MOH-mum bur-MAHN-ee-eye)
- Korintje
- Batavia
- Sumatra
Cinnamomum loureirii (sin-uh-MOH-mum lor-EAR-ee-eye)
- Saigon
- Vietnamese
True Cinnamon:
Cinnamomum verum (sin-uh-MOH-mum VER-um)
- Ceylon
- Seychelles
- True cinnamon
If you’re buying prepackaged cinnamon in a grocery store, it will likely just be labeled cinnamon, but of course you know it’s actually cassia. You can be pretty sure it’s Cinnamomum burmannii because that’s the most common variety imported to the U.S. The bulk bin offerings at grocery stores generally list the botanical name along with the common name of spices, making it easier to figure out what you’re buying.
Specialty spice shops typically offer a variety of cinnamons and confusion can set in if they use a common name you’re not familiar with. Thankfully spice shops seem to always list the botanical names, so once again, mystery solved. Remembering the complicated botanical names isn’t critical. The spice merchant can explain the differences between the various cinnamons offered, or you can always just pull up the cinnamon and cassia entries in our Spice Library on your smart phone!
Check out the other great cinnamon information available on our site. Oh, and if you need something to store your cinnamon in, we can help you with that too!
- Spice Library Cassia and True Cinnamon entries with links to all the recipes on our site that use cinnamon.
- Dorie Greenspan shares love of cinnamon in our Celebrity Spice Inspirations.
- Twitter #SpiceChat Cinnamon Recap has a wealth of creative ideas on cooking with cinnamon from Twitter users all over the world along with links to loads of recipes that highlight this popular spice.
- SpiceCare spice storage contianers.
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Hi Carol–This comment has nothing to do with cinnamon, but I couldn’t figure out how else to contact you through your web site. I just wanted to thank you for the ridiculously good orange-fennel seed caramel corn you made for Will Bake For Food. I was lucky enough to get a bag of it. I love the idea of adding unexpected flavors to caramel corn. I’m thinking of making a few different kinds as holiday gifts and blogging about the results. If I do, I’ll let you know! Thanks again.