# Cinnamon **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 25, 2000, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinnamon/20521 "2000-05-25T16:33:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![youjane1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/5e9695/32.png) [@youjane1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/youjane1)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinnamon/20521/1 "2000-05-25T16:33:48Z")
Okay, why is it that cinnamon gum or candy is always some sort of “hot” flavor, when cinnamon the spice isn’t hot in the slightest? Hmmm? ---
**Author:** ![Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinnamon/20521/2 "2000-05-25T17:04:47Z")
go take a bite out of a fresh cinnamon stick, then try to say that cinnamon isn’t _hot_. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinnamon/20521/3 "2000-05-25T17:09:09Z")
Ouch. Nothing like getting shot down on your first post. Especially when that first post is also a new thread. Yowsa. But seriously, even if a cinnamon stick IS hot, we certainly don’t associate that with cinnamon. Ok, some people will put a stick in their hot cider, and some will grate it on something, but the taste people normally associate with cinnamon is entirely different than cinnamon candy. I would first say that if candy tasted like this, it would suck. Real bad. Then, I would like to say that they should maybe change the labels from “Cinnamon flavored” to “Damn spicy”. T’would make sense to me… ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinnamon/20521/4 "2000-05-25T17:15:40Z")
Could it be because in candy they use a different kind of cinammon? I seem to remember that there’s cinammon from Ceylon that is sweeter, and another kind, called cassia cinammon, that’s more pungent. Then there’s oil of cinammon, which I seem to remember has a more intense flavour. I would guess candy uses oil of cinammon. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinnamon/20521/5 "2000-05-25T17:26:54Z")
It has to do with the gum & mint manufacturers using cinnamon _oil_ (cinnamic aldehyde) extracted from the leaves rather than the mild powder we are used to sprinkling on our toast, which is taken from the tree bark. Both derived from the same plant, but the oil is potent enough to cause contact dermatitis reactions in some people; no wonder it tasts “spicy”. ---
**Author:** ![red\_dragon60](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@red\_dragon60](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/red_dragon60)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinnamon/20521/6 "2000-05-25T21:18:54Z")
My WAG is that the candy companies were looking for a flavor for sweet hot candy. Imagine biting into a Red-Hot and tasting the savory kiss of cayanne. They wanted something that could be associated with hot, something sweet, and something that wasn’t totally nasty. Cinnamon is just about the only sweet spice. Think about nutmeg flavored gum… ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinnamon/20521/7 "2000-05-25T23:46:21Z")
Well, I haven’t looked up the details on this, but going along with what Arnold & Opus said, there are different cinnamons that are used. The vast majority of what’s sold as cinnamon sticks and spice is cassia bark. I guess that candy uses cinnamon oil, like Opus said, from leaves. The reason cassia bark is used is because cinnamon bark doesn’t taste as much like cinnamon. I’ve had some, and … it doesn’t really. Of course, that’s just what I’ve learned to be cinnamon flavor. So cinnamon oil smells like cinnamon, cassia bark works better as a spice. The cinnamon bark I had would work just as well, though it was a little oilier, softer and less flavorful. panama jack * * * this .sig left intentionally blank. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2000, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinnamon/20521/8 "2000-05-26T01:48:18Z")
Cinnamon is the least of it. Go eat a grape-flavoured candy, then eat a grape, and tell me those two flavours are any more closely related than ice cream and dog shit. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2000, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinnamon/20521/9 "2000-05-26T15:03:56Z")
What kind of ice cream? That coffee stuff is pretty dog shit-like. ---
**Author:** ![Needs2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5e925/32.png) [@Needs2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Needs2know)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2000, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinnamon/20521/10 "2000-05-26T18:55:52Z")
That is interesting…I had no idea that something was used to subsitute for cinnamon. I was thinking that perhaps the heat came from the amount of cinnamon used in making gum. Because anyone who cooks may have noticed that nutmeg and ground sage can both be slightly “hot” when used in larger quantities. Needs2know ---
**Author:** ![Jenbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jenbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenbo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2000, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinnamon/20521/11 "2000-05-28T18:58:02Z")
I don’t know if this helps, but I have a friend who absolutely SWEARS that cinnamon tastes like onions. If she isn’t completely bonkers, that might contribute to a sharp taste in cinnamon. But this is Sarah who only figured out last month that the stop and shop logo is a red light and a green light… ---
**Author:** ![PublicBlast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/779978/32.png) [@PublicBlast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PublicBlast)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2000, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinnamon/20521/12 "2000-05-29T04:48:24Z")
> [@](#): > > What kind of ice cream? That coffee stuff is pretty dog shit-like. Hooray! I thought I was the only person alive who thinks that coffee ice cream is nasty… I would love to see cinnamon ice cream, incidentally… ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2000, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinnamon/20521/13 "2000-05-29T09:55:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > What kind of ice cream? That coffee stuff is pretty dog shit-like. > \*\* _gasp_ Coffee ice cream is one of the best flavors in the world!! ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2000, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinnamon/20521/14 "2000-05-29T15:47:23Z")
> [@](#): > > I would love to see cinnamon ice cream, incidentally… Cinnamon ice cream exists, and it’s heavenly. Only problem is, you never see it in the stores, but it’s sometimes used in desserts in some restaurants. Combined with apple cobbler, it’s dangerously good. aw geez, now I’m hungry. ---
**Author:** ![SoapBoxMessiah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58f4c7/32.png) [@SoapBoxMessiah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoapBoxMessiah)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2000, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinnamon/20521/15 "2000-05-29T16:08:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*\* > > What kind of ice cream? That coffee stuff is pretty dog shit-like. > > \*\* > > _gasp_ Coffee ice cream is one of the best flavors in the world!! > \*\* Damnit, now you got me longing for tiramisu… 😛