Cinnamon and Cassia Selection and Storage

From Peggy Trowbridge Filippone,
Your Guide to Home Cooking.
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How to differentiate cinnamon quills from cassia

Cinnamon and Cassia Selection

True cinnamon quills or sticks will be curled in a telescopic form, while cassia quills curl inward from both sides, like a scroll. Small pieces of the quills are known as quillings.

Ground cinnamon is more difficult to distinguish from ground cassia. True cinnamon is tan in color with a warm, sweet flavor, whereas ground cassia is a reddish brown, usually coarser in texture, with a more bitter, stronger flavor and a more aromatic bouquet. Cassia comes in peeled and unpeeled quills, as well as ground.

Cinnamon Storage

Store powder or quills (sticks) in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. It is best to buy small quantities of ground cinnamon as it quickly becomes stale, losing flavor and aroma. Grind your own from cinnamon quills using a spice or coffee grinder for best flavor or use whole cinnamon quills.

Cinnamon Harvest

Cinnamon and cassia both come from the bark of a plant in the laurel family which can grow up to 30 feet tall, but most farms keep them short and bushy to make harvesting easier.