Cassia Bark (whole 9cm Quills)

Cassia bark has a rounded, sweet cinnamon flavor with a mild bite that won’t overpower your recipe. Often confused with cinnamon, cassia has a very sweet, pungent aroma and almost bitter taste when used to excess.

Cassia is usually a better choice for savory dishes, rather than sweets, while cinnamon is best for sweet baked goods.

Highly perfumed, cassia is delicious in sweet dishes and we recommend blending it 50:50 with true cinnamon for best results. 

Cassia bark is perfect for use when making homemade chai tea blends, pickling spice blends, or if you’re brewing your own spirits. Add to coffee and tea, or to toss into curries or masalas.

During winter, take a small spoonful and drop them into simmering pots of cider and wine you plan to mull through the afternoon before a big holiday party.

Cassia and cinnamon both come from the bark of a tree that is a member of the laurel family. To produce cinnamon, the tree's bark is harvested, dried and fermented, then its outer layer is removed. As it dries, the inner bark curls into thin strips, or quills.

You may be surprised to learn that most commercial supermarket ground cinnamon is actually cassia or a combination of cinnamon and cassia. This practice is permitted with no restriction by most countries, including the United States. So cassia is not necessarily another name for cinnamon; it is a completely different spice, although they are related.