Ceylon
cinnamon is native to just one region of the world,
and
producing it requires hours of delicate work. Even the most skilled workers can
make only
a
few pounds of quills a day.
One
pound of cinnamon quills can cost $27, but not all spices labeled cinnamon are
the Ceylon variety.
Many
in the Western market are actually cheaper types of cinnamon called cassia.
So
what makes Ceylon cinnamon so favorable?
And
why is it so expensive?
Ceylon cinnamon is named after the old British name for Sri Lanka, and it is often considered "real" cinnamon.
It
is made from the dried inner bark of a tree called Cinnamomum verum.
Growing
these trees is an investment.
Farmers
must wait four years after a tree is planted
before
they can begin harvesting. At harvest, workers break down the branches
early
in the morning, when the bark is still moist.
Ruwanpura
must continuously care
for
the trees throughout the year, otherwise the branches won't be suitable
for
making cinnamon at all.
The
rigorous nature of this job has only just begun.
Now
peelers must do the delicate and essential work of stripping the inner bark of
each branch by hand.
This
is the most labor-intensive part of the process,
and
it's not as easy as simply shaving the outside of the bark as you would the
skin from a potato.
To
produce the most valuable cinnamon,
the
bark must be made extremely thin. The thinner the quills are, the more costly
they will be.
Ruwanpura
has spent 40 years mastering this skill.
Soon
after the bark is removed,
each
piece dries under the sun
and
curls up within a few minutes. After drying, the small pieces are stuffed
inside
a straight piece of bark,
forming
one 42-inch quill.
By
the end of a long day, workers will have only produced about 3 pounds of
quills.
Those
then need to dry for three to four days
before
they're packed into bales
and
sent off to a separate facility. That's where there'll be graded and officially
priced
based
on their width. PDRomanis and Sons buys bales of cinnamon
from
various peelers.
At
its facility, quills are graded over 10 scales.
The
most valuable quills are classified as Alba. It takes a peeler four times
longer
to
produce one kilogram of Albathan to produce the same quantity of lower grades.
The
leftover, smaller cuts are turned into ground cinnamon
and
make up the cheapest form.
But
even the most valuable quills are often confused with
a
more widely accessible and cheaper variety of cinnamon. Cassia comes from
another kind of cinnamon tree, called Cinnamomum cassia,
and
it doesn't require as much time or effort to make.
Cassia
bark is hard and sturdy,
so
quills are made as one curled piece of bark without the fillings.
Ceylon
cinnamon, on the other hand,
is
tender and soft and needs those inner layers to prevent the quill from
breaking.
Cassia is very fragrant and brown,
whereas
real cinnamon is paler, with a milder flavor.
Cassia
also contains, on average, higher levels of coumarin, an organic compound
that
can cause liver damage if consumed in large amounts.
This
is why researchers say Ceylon cinnamon
is
ultimately the healthier option.
But
if you're buying cinnamon in the US, it can be hard to tell the difference
between them.
Part
of the confusion between the two
comes
from the use of the label cinnamon.
In
the US, it is legal to label
both
Ceylon and cassia cinnamon as cinnamon,
while
in the UK and other countries,
cassia
must be labeled cassia and cannot be classified simply as cinnamon.
Regardless
of what it's called in the US,
consumers
worldwide prefer the real thing.
In
2018, Ceylon cinnamon accounted for
more
global revenue than any other variety. And even as demand is expected to grow
through 2025,
climate
change already poses a serious threat to cinnamon production.
In
recent years,
Sri
Lanka has experienced droughts over several months. And these long periods of
dry weather
can
kill cinnamon trees, which need marshy, wet soil to survive.
There's
also a shortage of cinnamon peelers,
another
threat to production
that's
likely to drive up prices. This industry relies on experienced peelers
who
can practice the difficult work
of
making these quills over many years.
