Cinnamon Sticks

Cinnamon Sticks are the dried bark of the cinnamon tree. The inner bark is then peeled off and dried — this is cinnamon. It rolls itself naturally as it dries.

Cassia Cinnamon Sticks are reddish-brown, thick and coarse. They are actually preferable to real or “Ceylon” Cinnamon Sticks. Ceylon Cinnamon Sticks are very pale, thin, and fragile, crumbling easily, so not many people would be happy with them.

You don’t actually eat Cinnamon Sticks; you just let the flavour infuse into a drink or dish, then discard. In addition to adding flavour, they also add flair. They also add some interest to tedious Christmas receptions, as guests remove them from their mugs of heated apple cider so that the sticks don’t poke them in the eye, and then realize they have to look for some place to covertly stash them in your livingroom.

Language Notes

A stick of cinnamon is called in the trade a “quill” or a “pipe”.