Garnishes

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is the dried inner bark of Cinnamomum trees, sold as rolled sticks or ground to a powder. Most of what British shops sell is cassia, which is darker, harder and hotter than true Ceylon cinnamon and carries far more coumarin. In drinks a stick infuses a hot batch and lifts out clean, while the powder goes into a batter or a drink made in the blender, or is dusted on top.

Quick Facts

Legal categoryFood

OriginCeylon cinnamon mainly from Sri Lanka; cassia from southern China and South and Southeast Asia.

Flavour Strengthmedium

Our keeping timeSticks: one to two years sealed. Ground: about a year once opened.

Storage

Sealed, cool, dry and dark. Sticks hold their aroma far longer than the powder.

Allergens

None of the 14 listed allergens.

The ingredient

About Cinnamon

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

Warm spiceSweet barkWoody

Tasting Notes

Warm, sweet and woody. Cassia is hotter and blunter; Ceylon is lighter, with a citrus and floral edge.

Two barks are sold as cinnamon

True cinnamon, Cinnamomum verum, comes mainly from Sri Lanka and is often sold as Ceylon cinnamon. Its sticks are pale tan, brittle and made of many thin layers rolled together. Cassia, from related trees, is what most shops sell as plain cinnamon: a darker, harder stick rolled from one thick layer, with a hotter, blunter flavour.

Cassia also carries much more coumarin. The Austrian food safety agency AGES measured 1,880 to 3,260mg per kilogram in cassia against no more than 185mg in Ceylon. EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority, puts the tolerable daily intake at 0.1mg for every kilogram a person weighs. An occasional hot drink sits well inside that; heavy daily eating of cassia is what the limit is about.

Our cinnamon syrup is made with cassia

The house cinnamon syrup steeps three or four cracked cassia sticks in 1:1 white sugar syrup and keeps a week, chilled. Cassia's louder heat holds up against grapefruit and rum, which is why our tiki recipes call for it. Ceylon is the gentler choice where cinnamon is the only spice in the cup.

Sticks infuse, powder flavours a batter or sits on top

Bark gives up its flavour slowly, and heat does most of the work. The form follows from what the drink needs.

Cinnamon forms and what each does

Stick in a hot batch

What it does: Infuses while the pot heats and lifts out, leaving the drink clear
How much: Two for about a litre; three or four for a larger punch
In our recipes: Mulled Wine, Wassail, Hot Spiced Cider, Spiced Rum Punch, Fireside Punch

Stick in a cold batch

What it does: A slow, rounder note over many hours
How much: Two in the bottle overnight
In our recipes: Coquito

Stick as garnish

What it does: Aroma at the rim, and a stirrer
How much: One per glass or mug
In our recipes: Hot Toddy, Guy Fawkes Grog, Hot Toffee Apple, Ginger Snap, Spiced Sangria

Ground

What it does: Even flavour in a batter or blend, or aroma dusted on top
How much: Half a teaspoon in a batter or batch; a light dusting
In our recipes: Hot Buttered Rum, Coquito, Silk Stocking

Form	What it does	How much	In our recipes
Stick in a hot batch	Infuses while the pot heats and lifts out, leaving the drink clear	Two for about a litre; three or four for a larger punch	Mulled Wine, Wassail, Hot Spiced Cider, Spiced Rum Punch, Fireside Punch
Stick in a cold batch	A slow, rounder note over many hours	Two in the bottle overnight	Coquito
Stick as garnish	Aroma at the rim, and a stirrer	One per glass or mug	Hot Toddy, Guy Fawkes Grog, Hot Toffee Apple, Ginger Snap, Spiced Sangria
Ground	Even flavour in a batter or blend, or aroma dusted on top	Half a teaspoon in a batter or batch; a light dusting	Hot Buttered Rum, Coquito, Silk Stocking

Heat does the extracting

Simmering, a stick gives its flavour over the twenty minutes or so a Mulled Wine spends on a low heat, and then lifts out, which is why punch recipes ask for whole sticks: ground cinnamon clouds the liquid and leaves a sludge at the bottom of the pan. Cold, the same stick works over hours rather than minutes, so a drink made to order uses the syrup instead.

A stick from a hot drink can be rinsed, dried and used once or twice more, giving less each time.

Ground cinnamon belongs in a batter or on top

Powdered bark does not dissolve. Stirred into a cold drink it floats in clumps and settles as grit, so it belongs worked into butter and sugar, as in the Hot Buttered Rum, whizzed into a drink such as the Coquito, or dusted over the surface.

To dust, tap it through a fine sieve held a hand over the glass, after any foam has settled; shaken from the jar it lands in wet clumps. Ground cinnamon fades quietly rather than going off, so a jar that smells faint is finished.

Using it

Using Cinnamon

Usage

A pair of sticks seasons a pan of Hot Spiced Cider or Mulled Wine, three or four go into a larger punch, and one stands in each mug of Hot Toddy. Ground cinnamon, half a teaspoon at a time, is worked into the butter for Hot Buttered Rum and whizzed into the Coquito. For a cold drink made to order, cinnamon syrup carries the flavour.

Pro Tip

Snap a stick over the pan and smell the break. Cassia smells hot and sweet, Ceylon lighter and citrus-edged, and a stick that smells faint will leave the pot faint too.

Top Tips

Use sticks for anything hot that will be strained or ladled; powder clouds the pot.
Dust ground cinnamon through a fine sieve once a foam has settled.
Lift the sticks out of a pot that will sit warm for hours. Bark keeps giving up tannin and the drink turns harsh.
Smell the jar. Ground cinnamon that smells of little will add little.

Possible Substitutions

Cinnamon Syrup: for cinnamon flavour in a cold drink

Production Method

The inner bark of Cinnamomum trees, stripped and dried until it curls into quills, then sold whole or ground. Ceylon quills roll from many thin layers; cassia from one thick, hard layer.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

Should I use a cinnamon stick or ground cinnamon in a drink?

A stick for anything hot that will be ladled or strained, such as mulled wine or a punch, because it flavours the pot and lifts out leaving the drink clear. Ground cinnamon for a batter or a drink made in the blender, or dusted on top. Stirred into a cold drink, the powder floats and then settles as grit.

Is Ceylon cinnamon different from cassia?

They come from related trees. Ceylon, or true cinnamon, has pale, brittle sticks of many thin layers and a lighter, slightly citrus flavour. Cassia has dark, hard sticks rolled from one thick layer and tastes hotter and blunter. Most cinnamon sold in British shops without a label is cassia.

Is cassia cinnamon safe to use in drinks?

In the amounts a drink uses, yes. Cassia holds far more coumarin than Ceylon, and EFSA's safe figure for it is 0.1mg a day for each kilogram a person weighs, so 7mg for someone of 70kg. A stick steeped in a shared pot gives each cup a small part of that. Daily spoonfuls are where it matters.

How many cinnamon sticks go in mulled wine?

Two, in our Mulled Wine: a bottle of red, 150ml of brandy, orange juice and honey, roughly a litre in all. Three or four suit a punch of two litres or more, such as the Fireside Punch. Snapping the sticks speeds the steep; lift them out before the pot sits for hours.

Can you put a cinnamon stick in a cold drink?

As a garnish, yes, for its aroma, but in a cold drink made to order it adds almost nothing, because bark gives up its oils slowly without heat. Given hours it does more: our Coquito leaves two sticks in the bottle overnight. For cinnamon you can taste straight away, use cinnamon syrup.

How do you dust cinnamon on a drink without clumps?

Put a little through a fine sieve or tea strainer held about a hand over the glass and tap the side gently. Wait until any foam has settled, or the powder sinks through the bubbles. On a hot drink, dust as it is served, because the powder darkens in the steam.

Can you reuse cinnamon sticks?

Once or twice, from a hot drink. Rinse the stick, let it dry completely so nothing grows on it, and expect less flavour each time. When a snapped stick no longer smells of cinnamon it has nothing left to give. A stick used briefly as a garnish in a cold drink has barely been used at all.

How long does cinnamon keep?

Sticks keep their aroma for one to two years sealed in a cool, dark, dry place. Ground cinnamon loses most of its flavour within about a year of opening, faster if the jar sits near the hob. It never smells bad; it simply smells of less, which is the sign to replace it.

Make something

Made with Cinnamon

Featured In These Cocktails

Hot Toddy Mulled Wine Coquito Wassail Hot Buttered Rum Hot Spiced Cider

Show all 13 cocktails

Fireside Punch Ginger Snap Guy Fawkes Grog Hot Toffee Apple Silk Stocking Spiced Rum Punch Spiced Sangria

Often Used With

Guide by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 11 October 2026

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