Cinnamon
A warm, sweet spice from tree bark, used ground or as a stick to garnish and flavor cocktails.
Origin
Sri Lanka (true "Ceylon" cinnamon) and Southeast Asia (cassia, the more common commercial variety), traded since antiquity.
History
Cinnamon was one of the ancient world's most valuable trade spices, historically so precious that its true origins were kept secret by traders for centuries to protect their monopoly. Most cinnamon sold commercially today, particularly in North America, is actually cassia, a related but distinct bark from Southeast Asia, rather than true Ceylon cinnamon from Sri Lanka; the two differ in intensity and sweetness. In cocktails, cinnamon (as a stick, ground spice, or syrup) is a staple of fall and winter drinks, mulled wine, and hot buttered rum-style cocktails.
Flavor profile
Warm, sweet, and woody, with cassia (the common variety) being bolder and spicier than true Ceylon cinnamon's more delicate, citrusy character.
Tasting notes
A familiar warm spice note that reads as both sweet and slightly hot on the palate, used whole as a stirring stick and garnish or ground/syruped into a drink for a more integrated spice presence.
Substitutes
- Cinnamon syrup, for an easier-to-mix liquid form of the same flavor.
- A pinch of allspice, for a related but more complex warm-spice substitute.
- Cinnamon schnapps, for the flavor with added alcohol and sweetness.
