5 Ways To Tell If Your Cinnamon Is Fake

Cinnamon is a versatile spice that's awesome for lending baked goods an inviting aroma, imbuing rice dishes with warming character, and suffusing hot beverages with a hint of heavenly chutzpah. Whether you use it in its whole or ground form, this winning ingredient gives everything from biryanis to Bundts a characteristic flavor and yummy fragrance. However, not all varieties of cinnamon sold at the grocery store are the same. In fact, you might have accidentally picked up a bottle of "fake" cinnamon on many occasions without realizing it. 

But what do we mean by fake? We're talking about a type of cinnamon known as cassia cinnamon, which is derived from the Cinnamomum cassia tree that grows in China. This variety of cinnamon looks darker than true cinnamon (also known as Ceylon cinnamon) that's made from from Cinnamomum verum trees that are native to Sri Lanka. It also has a thicker texture and a more intense flavor profile. 

Cheaper to produce than true cinnamon, cassia cinnamon, or Chinese cinnamon, is prevalent in the U.S. because of its affordable price point but lacks the subtlety and mellowness of bona fide cinnamon. Of course, you can use any variety of cinnamon you have on hand to flavor your homemade dishes, but if you're after a more delicate, floral finish, then true cinnamon is worth searching out — and we've got five simple ways to help you discern the difference between cinnamon types.

The first thing to look to if you're unsure whether your cinnamon is fake is the information on the packaging. If the label includes the words "Ceylon," "true," or "Zeylanicum," you've got a true blue cinnamon on your hands. In fact, some premium brands producing high-quality or organic cinnamon even make it a point to mention specific details of the provenance of their spices. For example, if your cinnamon has been grown and harvested in Sri Lanka, it's likely authentic. However, if the words "cassia bark" are on the label, or it mentions "Chinese cinnamon" or "Saigon cinnamon," then it's definitely the other cheaper variety that's grown in places like the Sumatra region of Indonesia (the country that grows most of the world's cinnamon) and Vietnam. 

The problem is that many cinnamon brands aren't labeled with the full details, making it tricky to discern whether they're "fake" or real. Plus, as the FDA doesn't distinguish between Ceylon, Saigon, or Chinese cinnamon, they can simply be labeled as "cinnamon" without further clarification required. But fear not. If you've got a bottle of ground cinnamon or a packet of cinnamon sticks in your pantry that haven't been labeled well, you can still make an educated guess on which variety you've been using by scrutinizing its appearance, aroma, color, and texture.

The warming aroma of cinnamon is its calling card. Used in an array of recipes solely for its fragrant qualities, this cozy spice is also a key ingredient in candles and skincare products because of its comforting character. Its unmistakably sweet fragrance, which becomes stronger when the sticks are ground into a powder, comes courtesy of an organic compound called cinnamaldehyde that's present in the essential oils within the bark. All you need to do is take a whiff of a cinnamon stick to smell its sweet but spicy scent and you can determine if it's the real deal. 

True cinnamon has a milder aroma than cassia, which is why you might not find it to be particularly aromatic on first impression. However, if you grind it or add a stick to a warming drink, like a chai latte, the oils will be released, unleashing all that delicious aroma. If your cinnamon stick has more of an intense fragrance with a spicier kick, then it's probably cassia cinnamon. And the same goes for when you open a jar of the ground stuff; if the aroma hits you in the face, then it's cassia rather than Ceylon.

If you compare a stick of true cinnamon with it's cassia cousins, you'll definitely see a color difference. An authentic cinnamon quill is pale brown on the surface, and when it's ground into a powder, it has an almost yellowish tone, vacillating somewhere between the muted color of ground ginger and the depth of nutmeg. "Fake" cinnamon has a darker color that's richer and deeper, which heads into reddish territory when its whizzed into a powder. This color difference can be attributed to the natural diversity between the types of trees that cinnamon is derived from and also whether the stiff outer layer of the bark is removed during harvesting. 

If your jar of cinnamon looks particularly dark, it's likely to be made from cassia cinnamon and will also have a stronger aroma. The truth is that many supermarkets primarily stock cassia cinnamon — even though it's considered lower-quality than true cinnamon — because it's cheaper to produce, which is why you may never have noticed that there's a difference between the two. Some cinnamons can even be a mixture of both. While this doesn't pose too much of a problem, as all varieties of cinnamon can be used interchangeably, they do each have their own unique qualities that they bring to the table.

Cinnamon has a naturally sweet flavor and is often described as being almost floral, due to the presence of a vanilla-like compound called coumarin. While it doesn't contain any sugar, this hallmark flavor, present in smaller quantities in true cinnamon, makes Ceylon cinnamon an awesome ingredient in classic recipes like all-American apple pie, cozy carrot cake, and spiced snickerdoodles, particularly when used in its powdered form. Ground cinnamon is easy to evenly distribute through batters and blend into the buttery filling for sticky homemade cinnamon buns, which lends them a pretty, speckled appearance as well as a mellow taste. Powdered cinnamon derived from cassia, however, has a pungent flavor that can verge on bitter in large amounts. 

Its woody quality and potent personality means that it can become overpowering when used generously and indiscriminately in sweet or savory bakes. A great way to compare the flavor of real versus fake cinnamon is to make a double batch of cake batter and use the same amount of Ceylon cinnamon in one and cassia in the other. You should find that the true cinnamon suffuses your muffins with a soothing, dulcet flavor, whereas the cassia has a bit more of a characterful punch and spicier bite. While the difference isn't chasmic, it's there and can matter — especially if you're aiming for a complex but pared-back cinnamon-y note.

True cinnamon quills are smoother and thinner in texture than those made from cassia; the paper-like layers can be rolled into delicate, many-layered spirals that are less than a centimeter thick because the stiff outer bark is removed during the production process. Cassia, on the other hand, has a rougher, more robust surface and the tough, uneven bark is rolled into double-spiraled quills that are almost twice the thickness of true cinnamon (run your finger along one and you'll feel its rugged character, body, and bulk). This feature makes it very tricky to snap Chinese cinnamon into smaller pieces for use in spiced rice dishes, phở, or tagines where you're aiming for subtle aroma and depth without pronounced bitterness. 

True cinnamon quills, however, are super-snappable, and it's a breeze to break them into splintered pieces because of their fragile nature. So, if the label is unclear and you're not sure which variety of cinnamon you've purchased, simply inspect the surface and try to snap a quill in two. If it breaks apart with little effort and is thin enough to turn into a powder with a quick whirl in a coffee grinder, you're on the money. For more information about this classic warming spice, check out these 16 facts you need to know about cinnamon.