Our Royal Cinnamon has been harvested in the mountains around the ancient Vietnamese capital city of Huế for centuries. This is an heirloom variety not widely harvested or exported, and it exemplifies the intense sweetness and spiciness for which Vietnamese cinnamon is prized. Use it in place of Saigon or other cinnamons in pastries and baked goods, or sprinkle into rich, savory meat or tomato-based dishes.
Royal Cinnamon is the species Cinnamomum loureiroi. It was historically called Saigon cinnamon, but most of what's exported as Saigon cinnamon these days is Cinnamomum cassia. They are different species, but they are often confused for one another, and it's worth noting that neither cinnamon grows anywhere near Saigon!
If you're looking for cinnamon that's less sweet and spicy and more citrusy and complex, check out our Cinnamon Verum.
We regularly test our cinnamon for lead in an internationally accredited food safety testing lab, and it is always significantly below the lead limits of 1 ppm. Please contact us for more details on our testing procedures for cinnamon and other spices.
Highlights
Ingredients
Royal cinnamon, ground (Cinnamomum loureiroi)
Cooking tips
- Beautiful in baked goods, spice cookies and desserts
- Sprinkle over yogurt and oatmeal, and add to smoothies
- Brew with your favorite coffee or tea
RECIPES
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Extra-Spicy Hermit Bars
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Cranberry Chai Cookies
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Chocolate Cinnamon Snowcaps
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Dark Syrup Gingerbread Diamonds | Sirupsnipper
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Brown Sugar “Little Starch” Cookies | Almidoncitos
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Cardamom Palmiers
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Mini Chocolate Chip & Cinnamon Biscotti
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Cocoa-Coconut-Maple Granola
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Ginger Snickerdoodle
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Vanilla Sugar / Vanilla Salt and Butternut Squash with Vanilla Essence
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Spiced Banana Bread
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Occhi di Bue (Chocolate Sandwich Cookies)
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Candied Ginger Chocolate Chunk Cookies
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Persian Kobeh (Savory Saffron & Meat Rice Dumpling)
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Cinnamon-Ginger Spiced Nuts
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Tokhme Gojeh (Iranian Omelet)
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Pear & Walnut Upside-Down Cake
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Sweet Potato Cupcakes With Salted Maple Frosting
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Thick and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
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Coffee-Glazed Molasses Bars
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Spiced Applesauce Crumb Cake
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Spiced Cookies
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Downy Pumpkin Bundt with Maple Cream
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Oat Spice Crumble Biscuit Rolls
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Rye Shortbread
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Tahini-Spiced Cranberry Granola
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Cinnamon Raisin Bread
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Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
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Saffron Bread Pudding
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Lamb Meatballs, Spiced Tomato Sauce, Mint, and Feta
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Spiced (Carrot) Cake with Apple Filling and Cream Cheese Frosting
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Pumpkin-Spiced Granola
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New York-Style Crumb Cake
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One Syrup, 3 Drinks
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Banana Chocolate Chip Walnut Muffins
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Caribbean-Inspired Spiced Breakfast Porridge
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Qabuli Pilau/Spiced Rice
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Chai Spice Cake with Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting
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Guava, Apple & Nutmeg Crumble
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Easy Cinnamon Rolls
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Carrot Layer Cake with Ginger Cream Cheese Mousse
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Brown Butter-Cinnamon Crumb Cake
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Glazed Pumpkin Spice Cookies
SOURCING
Our Royal Cinnamon comes from the mountains of Quang Nam in central Vietnam. This area was historically famous for spicy, sweet cinnamon, but in the last decade, the commodity market has shifted further north, where the prices are lower. Everyone told us that this area wasn't worth visiting and that their heirloom cinnamon variety wasn't being harvested anymore. We were very happy to discover that's not the case - the cinnamon here IS being harvested, and is incredible, probably the most intense we've ever tasted.
They use a technique for harvesting cinnamon that we've never encountered before - instead of chopping down the tree to harvest the bark, they make a deep cut around the base of the tree and let the bark dry on the tree for a couple of weeks before harvesting it. That makes it easier to harvest, but it also concentrates essential oils rather than letting them evaporate as the bark dries in the hot sun. The bark comes off the tree mostly dry and very intensely spicy and sweet, with a beautiful fragrance that we could smell from half a mile away.
HEALTH BENEFITS
While we do not make any health claims on any of our spices, there has been some historic and limited recent evidence that cinnamon can potentially be helpful for:
- Antibacterial and Antifungal Treatments: Cinnamon oils have demonstrated antibacterial and antifungal activity, and show potential for future alternative and/or synergistic treatments for bacteria and yeast. (A, B, C, D, E, F, G)
- Cancers: Research has shown some increasing evidence that cinnamon contains some anticancer properties by inducing apoptosis of cancer cells and inhibiting tumor cell growth. (A, B, C)
- Cognition and Alzheimer’s Disease: Cinnamon might boost the ability of the brain to utilize glucose, improve cognitive function and help fight Alzheimer’s disease by inhibiting aggregation of a protein called tau.
- Glycemic Control: Some research has shown cinnamon to be effective in increasing insulin sensitivity and improving fasting blood glucose levels, with potential to support glucose control treatment in the future. (A, B, C ,D, E)
- Dyslipidemia: Cinnamon has shown to be effective in reducing triglycerides, total cholesterol and/or LDL-C in some studies. (A, B, C, D)
Further clinical studies are warranted and in progress. Please always consult your healthcare provider. This is not intended as medical advice.