Cinnamon comes from the inner bark of tropical evergreen trees in the genus Cinnamomum, part of the laurel family. These trees grow natively in South and Southeast Asia, and the spice is produced by peeling, scraping, and drying strips of bark until they curl into the familiar quills (sticks) you see on store shelves. Most of the cinnamon sold worldwide comes from just four species, each tied to a different region.
The Tree and the Bark
Cinnamon trees are medium-sized evergreens that thrive in hot, humid climates with heavy rainfall. The part you eat is specifically the inner bark, not the wood or the outer layer. The bark’s flavor comes primarily from an aromatic oil called cinnamaldehyde, which makes up 65 to 80 percent of the bark’s chemical compounds. A smaller portion, roughly 5 to 10 percent, is eugenol, the same compound that gives cloves their scent.
What makes cinnamon unusual among spices is that it’s harvested from a tree’s bark rather than its seeds, leaves, or fruit. The trees are typically grown as bushes, cut back close to the ground every couple of years so they send up new, straight shoots. These young shoots produce the thinnest, most flavorful bark.
Four Species, Four Regions
The spice trade lumps cinnamon into two broad categories: Ceylon cinnamon (often called “true cinnamon”) and cassia cinnamon. But within those categories, four distinct species dominate global production.
- Ceylon cinnamon is native to Sri Lanka and remains the country’s signature spice export. It has a light tan color, a delicate sweetness, and thin, papery layers that roll into soft, tightly wound quills.
- Chinese cassia originates in southern China, primarily the provinces of Guangxi, Guangdong, and Yunnan. It’s also produced in Vietnam. The sticks are dark brown-red, thick, and hard, with a rougher texture and a stronger, more pungent flavor.
- Indonesian cinnamon comes from the highlands of Sumatra. Production expanded significantly to meet global demand, and today Indonesia is one of the largest cinnamon exporters in the world. This variety is what fills most supermarket spice jars in the United States.
- Saigon cinnamon is grown in Vietnam. It has the highest oil content of the four species, which gives it the most intense flavor. Until the 1960s, Vietnam was the world’s most important producer of this variety.
If you’ve bought ground cinnamon at a grocery store without checking the label carefully, you almost certainly got one of the cassia types. Ceylon cinnamon is more expensive and typically sold at specialty shops or online.
How Cinnamon Is Harvested
Cinnamon harvesting is still done largely by hand, especially in Sri Lanka, where skilled peelers (called “kurundu” workers) follow a process that hasn’t changed much in centuries.
It starts in the field. Workers cut shoots from the cinnamon bush at a 45-degree angle, about one and a half to two inches above the ground. This clean cut encourages the bush to sprout new growth for the next harvest. Side branches and leaves are stripped off on the spot.
Back at the processing shed, the brown outer bark is scraped away using a curved blade. Then the peeler rubs the stem with a brass rod until moisture seeps out, loosening the inner bark from the wood underneath. Small knives are used to peel this inner bark away in sheets or thin strips. The width of each sheet determines the final grade of the cinnamon.
Fresh bark is pale and pliable. As it dries in the shade, it naturally curls inward, forming the characteristic scroll shape. Workers stack these curled sheets inside one another and fill the center with smaller broken pieces to create quills, either 42 or 21 inches long. The quills then dry on racks or strings for four to seven days until their moisture content drops to 14 percent or below. Only then are they cut, sorted, and packed for export.
How to Tell Ceylon From Cassia
The two types look noticeably different once you know what to look for. Ceylon cinnamon sticks are tan-brown, made of many thin, soft layers rolled tightly together. They’re fragile enough to crumble between your fingers. Cassia sticks are dark reddish-brown, made from a single thick layer of bark that curls into a hard, hollow tube. You’d have trouble breaking a cassia stick without a grinder.
Flavor differs too. Ceylon is mild, slightly sweet, with subtle citrus and floral notes. Cassia is bolder, spicier, and more “cinnamony” in the way most people expect cinnamon to taste, since it’s what they’ve been eating their whole lives.
Why the Difference Matters for Your Health
The practical reason to care about which type you’re buying is a compound called coumarin. In large amounts over time, coumarin can stress the liver. Cassia cinnamon contains significant levels of it, with studies finding average concentrations between 2,650 and 7,017 milligrams per kilogram in commercial ground cinnamon samples. Ceylon cinnamon, by contrast, contains so little coumarin that lab tests often can’t detect it at all.
For occasional use in baking or cooking, the difference is unlikely to matter. But if you’re someone who takes cinnamon daily as a supplement or adds spoonfuls to smoothies, choosing Ceylon over cassia reduces your coumarin exposure to essentially zero.
Grading Ceylon Cinnamon
Sri Lanka grades its cinnamon exports by quill diameter, appearance, and moisture content. Thinner quills generally have a sweeter, more delicate flavor and command higher prices.
- Alba is the top grade: pencil-thin quills no more than 6 millimeters across, pale golden, tightly rolled with no cracks. The flavor is sweet and floral with a hint of citrus. Surface blemishes must be 5 percent or less, and moisture can’t exceed 12 percent.
- Continental quills measure 10 to 13 millimeters, light brown, slightly looser in their roll. The flavor is noticeably bolder.
- Mexican grade runs 14 to 16 millimeters, with a rustic golden-brown look and an earthier, punchier taste.
- Hamburg is the thickest at 17 to 19 millimeters, and the most affordable.
These grades apply only to Ceylon cinnamon from Sri Lanka. Cassia cinnamon from China, Indonesia, and Vietnam follows different trade standards and is generally not graded with the same precision, since its thicker bark doesn’t lend itself to the same thin-quill craftsmanship.