Cinnamon is a staple spice in many kitchens, especially during the fall and holiday baking season. Its aroma and flavor—sweet, warm, and slightly spicy—come from the essential oils in the bark, which are most pronounced when you open a fresh container. Like other ground spices, cinnamon loses potency over time, so replacing it about once a year helps ensure your recipes retain their intended flavor. But not all cinnamon is the same, and Cook’s Illustrated recently tested several brands to determine which ones are best for everyday use.
The testers evaluated three primary types of cinnamon: Ceylon, Indonesian, and Vietnamese. In uncooked applications, such as sprinkling on rice pudding, differences were clear: Ceylon cinnamon tended to be milder and sweeter, while Indonesian and Vietnamese varieties were bolder and spicier. However, the test kitchen discovered that much of the spicy character dissipates during baking and cooking. As a result, the distinctions that were obvious in raw tastings narrowed significantly once cinnamon was incorporated into baked goods and other cooked dishes.
Because the heat of cooking reduces the more volatile spicy compounds, most of the ground cinnamons performed similarly in finished dishes. Testers generally found that nearly every brand evaluated delivered acceptable flavor and could be recommended for pantry use. The brands that earned strong recommendations included Morton & Bassett, Penceys, McCormick, Simply Organic, Frontier, McCormick Gourmet, and Spice Islands. One brand, Badia, did not receive a recommendation; its sample, sourced from Indonesia, contained added soybean oil used during processing and produced a musty off-note that tasters found objectionable.
Previous testing from 2009 noted that mail-order spices often arrived fresher and more aromatic than typical grocery-store options. The recent tasting suggests that overall quality among widely available cinnamon brands has improved since then, and many commercial products now offer reliable flavor for both raw and cooked applications. To preserve cinnamon’s best qualities, store it in a cool, dark place in an airtight container and replace ground cinnamon about once a year to keep its aroma and taste at their peak.