Saigon Cinnamon (cooking/eating)

[hollywood]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've noticed over the years that cinnamon just doesn't seem to have the same (stronger) flavor that I remember as a kid. I chalked it up to my taste buds just changing as I got older.

Then about a week or so ago, I read an article about how the US used to import most of our cinnamon from Vietnam that was from a species known colloquially as "Saigon Cinnamon." Today, most of the cinnamon sold in the US comes from a different variety, known as "Cassia" Cinnamon or Mexican Cinnamon.

Thinking this may be the difference, I actually went online and ordered some and I've got to say, it wasn't my taste buds changing, it really does taste significantly different (much better) than the cinnamon I had bought in the recent past. A few months ago I even got some stick cinnamon and ground it myself trying to get that flavor I remembered, with no success.

The Saigon Cinnamon is actually sweet to the taste and has a much richer flavor profile with those deep notes I remember as a kid. For anyone who likes the flavor of cinnamon, I would advise trying it and see if it doesn't taste much better than the "regular" store brand cinnamon's out there. BTW, Kirkland Brand is the real deal and is relatively inexpensive.

 

[PDT816]

Real Mexican Cinnamon is a higher quality and more expensive than Vietnamese varieties.

The stuff from Asia is definitely more spicy, so maybe that's why you prefer it.

The really good stuff comes from Sri Lanka

 

[osuengineer]

We’re a Costco family, so will get some real Kirkland brand cinnamon next time we go.

 

[H Town Poke]

It should also be your stage name if the lawyer thing doesn’t work and you have to start “dancing” again.