Cinnamon in Mead

I love using cinnamon in mead, I believe that it is an ingredient any new mead maker should master early on, it can turn a "so so" traditional into something amazing. But it is a spice that is usually playing on stage with other spices and keeping it in its correct spot is where the art comes in. Of course deciding where to put it is part of this creative process.

Which cinnamon?

There are several kinds of cinnamon, having them in one's toolbox and knowing the difference is important. If you buy a jar of Cinnamon in your supermarket you are probably getting cassia cinnamon and this is possibly the only cinnamon the home baker has in their cupboard.

Let's have a look at them. 

Cassia Cinnamon

Within the Cassia Cinnamons are a couple of specific interest to us as Mead makers.

Indonesian cassia (Cinnamomum burmannii) (aka Indonesian Cinnamon, Korintje) is the sweetest and mildest of the cassia cinnamons, and is the most common used in bulk international brand spice jars. It is the cinnamon you are likely to be familiar with, though often it is blended with the Saigon to give it some robustness.

Saigon Cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia) is robustly aromatic, full of flavour, but less hot spice and a lot sweeter. It is sought out by many bakers who venture beyond the big supermarkets and is the cream of the crop amongst the Cassia Cinnamons as far as being rich and dark and full of a lot more grandeur than it's Indonesian counterpart.

Worth noting is that this is often sold as Vietnamese Cinnamon and this is a much better description. It gained its name of Saigon Cinnamon due to being traded from that port, not grown in the region.

Royal Cinnamon (Cinnamomum loureiroi) now comes time to really confuse you. This was once upon a time also known as Saigon Cinnamon, though like the bearer of that name now, it was not grown near Saigon. This is another Vietnamese Cinnamon that gets its Royal title from the fact that it is said to be grown for royalty. One can see why.

It is rarely exported and is expensive when it is, it is amazingly sweet and amazingly spicy in an amazingly pleasant manner.  Truly the most amazing of the Vietnamese Cinnamons.

Ceylon Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum )

Ceylon Cinnamon is also known as True Cinnamon. It is defined from the Cassias by its finer bark, it is more tan in colour and less red. It is softer and more delicate in flavour than Cassia, but the flavours are also more refined and rounded. To me this is like sipping cinnamon, not one to be used for those big cinnamon flavours, but one to be used to finish off a mead with a softer cinnamon experience.

It is more herbal, more savoury and less sweet than the Cassia cinnamons.

When Ceylon Cinnamon is processed it is rolled in much finer sheets than Cassia: it is treated as a finer product at all points along the pathway from tree to you and this is of course reflected in its price.

It is said that the discovery of this spice is what set off the spice trade when it was found in Sri Lanka during the European ocean wanderings of the day. "We have to have this and get this home" is likely to be have said, in some language other than this. And so the spice trade was started, or so I believe.

There are other cinnamons, but you are unlikely to come across them unless you get adventurous.

Which one to use in a Mead?

Worth noting a few things that are common amongst cinnamon.

Cinnamon is one of the spices that does survive primary fermentation. It looses a lot of its pungency and some could say it is not an economical use of an ingredient. It does give a softer and rounder flavour as a result of fermenting.

Cinnamon is anti fungal and if you use enough of it, and I mean a lot of it, it will impede your ferment. Cinnamon scrolls are not a yeast challenge for a baker, anything beyond that benchmark may be.

Cinnamon will give tannins that are good for binding with proteins. A handful of ground cinnamon can be a great aid to clearing, using this knowledge may also guide one as to when to add it.

There is no benefit in toasting it before using it.

How I use these.

I use Indonesian Cassia in primary - it softens down nicely. When I use it in primary I get a unique flavour that I like to replicate. I use .5 to 1 grams per litre. I buy this as sticks and put through a spice grinder. It will either sink or float and is not an issue floating free in the fermenter, use a bag if that is your thing. 

I bag it in secondary but not in primary. If using a stick it can be hung on string, but does this get the most out of the cinnamon? I prefer to get it broken up and get maximum surface exposure.

I sometimes use Saigon in secondary - this is where those rich and deep flavours are needed when blending with a lot of other spices such as nutmeg and the like. 

I sometimes use Ceylon  in secondary - this is where those nuanced and floral flavours will blend nicely with other light flavours such as vanilla.

I will use either of these last two for tweaking. 

Best of luck with your use of this bark.