Plant descriptions:
Cigarette Cassia produced from the inner bark of a specific species of Cinnamomum cassia, an evergreen tree, indigenous to the mountainous slopes of Vietnam. It’s usually taken from the lower portion of these trees with the most recent growth, and then cut and left to dry into the familiar, curled quills. The dried cassia is either left in quills or further processed into a dried powder.
Vietnamese Cassia has a higher volatile oil content, and also a higher coumarin content, than other types of cinnamon. These combine to make this a more pungent product than the other three types of cinnamon.
This spicy and sweet cassia is our top-selling variety. Among cassia aficionados it’s considered to be the finest cassia/cinnamon in the world. It makes its mark in curries, soups, baked goods, and vegetable dishes.
To harvest cassia, farmers cut down trees and remove the inner bark from both the trunk and the branches of the tree. Then the outer bark is stripped away from the inner bark. The highest quality cassia is that which is gathered from the part of the trunk that is closest to the ground. Traveling up the height of the tree, the quality of the bark decreases as the bark grows thinner the higher up you go from the base. Branches provide the lowest quality cassia on the tree.
The inner bark is usually cut into three-inch pieces, and dried. While drying in the sun over the course of several days, the bark will naturally curl up into quills. Once dried, separated and sorted for quality, the quills are packaged for export.
Use & Health Benefits
The aromatic inner bark of the tree is harvested and used as a spice for cooking and for its medicinal properties. Cassia has been used for thousands of years, Moses used cinnamon cassia oil for anointing ceremonies and the Romans used cinnamon for digestive and respiratory concerns. Cassia bark is one of the fifty fundamental herbs in traditional Vietnamese and Chinese medicine. More than 160 health benefiting components have been isolated from cassia bark including coumarin, a compound with blood thinning properties. Studies have found cassia bark to have antioxidant, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory effects.
In traditional Chinese medicine cassia bark is used as a tonic for the stomach, to warm the channels, disperse cold, promote urination, and ease headache. Research studies have found that cassia bark benefits healthy digestion, promotes normal blood glucose levels when used along with a healthy diet and exercise, supports cardiovascular health, benefits healthy cholesterol levels, promotes healthy cognitive function, and may benefit joint health.
Cassia bark can be used to make a tea, decoction, tincture, or as a cinnamon stick in your favorite recipes and beverages. Cassia bark powder is perfect to make your own fresh filler-free cassia bark capsules or as a spice in your recipes.