warm · peppery · caramel
25%
cinnamaldehyde
highest of all cinnamons
6–7%
essential oil yield
of dry bark
15 y
tree age at first strip
Quang Nam highlands
<3 kt
annual export
premium grade only
Saigon cinnamon is the dried inner bark of Cinnamomum loureiroi, an evergreen of the Lauraceae family native to the central Vietnamese highlands, and despite the trade name it is technically a cassia rather than a true Ceylon cinnamon. What sets it apart is chemistry: cinnamaldehyde concentration routinely reaches 25 percent of the essential oil, the highest measured across commercial Cinnamomum species and nearly double the level found in Sri Lankan C. verum. That density translates on the palate as a hot, almost peppery sweetness with a red-hot-candy lift and a lingering woody base that other cassias -- the Chinese C. cassia and Indonesian C. burmannii -- approach but rarely match. The bark is sold as thick, hard, tightly curled quills of a dark red-brown that snap rather than shatter, and as ground powder where the grade is judged by volatile oil percentage: top lots clear 4 percent oil, against a 1.5 to 2.5 percent range for standard cassia. The flagship production zones are Tra My district in Quang Nam, Tra Bong in Quang Ngai and Van Yen in Yen Bai, where montane mist, granitic soils and decades-old trees deliver the densest bark. Saigon cinnamon is the dominant baking cinnamon in the United States and the reference spice for Costco, Walmart and most American bakery supply chains, a commercial fact often obscured by the generic supermarket label.
Tasting notes
warm · peppery · caramel
Explosive cinnamaldehyde opening with hot-candy sweetness and red-pepper warmth, a clove-adjacent midpalate carried by eugenol and coumarin, a resinous sandalwood spine, and a long finish of baked sugar, dry leather and smouldering wood; the heat reads spicy rather than sweet.
Flavor compass
Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Yen Bai (Vietnamese central highlands), VN.
The benchmark grade — Cinnamomum loureiroi from the mountainous Yen Bai province of northern Vietnam. Deep red-brown quills with 5-6 % essential oil, the highest cinnamaldehyde content in the cassia family. Used in Vietnamese pho broth and exported at premium prices to specialty baking.
Central Vietnamese grade from the Tra My highlands of Quang Nam, the historical royal source sent as tribute to the Nguyen emperors. Medium-thick quills, 4-5 % oil, a sweeter and less aggressive heat than Yen Bai.
Wild-collected bark from century-old trees in the forests of Quang Ngai, hand-stripped in small lots. Irregular, dark quills, 4-7 % oil, complex woody-floral profile. Sold in restricted annual volumes to top-end patisserie houses.
After the dry season, the cambium swells and the bark lifts cleanly -- the only window harvesters will cut.
Men notch the trunk, peel long sheets of inner bark with a curved knife, keep only the thickest middle section.
Strips curl into tight quills over 5–7 days on bamboo racks under open barn roofs -- direct sun cracks the oil cells.
Quills are snapped and sniffed; cinnamaldehyde content >20% earns the premium 'Tra My' mark, the rest goes to ground.
A lighter autumn harvest on younger branches -- thinner quills, used mostly for ground spice and pharma extraction.
Store whole quills in sealed glass. Grate fresh -- ground Saigon loses cinnamaldehyde at 40%/year once the cells are open.
The molecules that make it taste like Kampot — and not like anything else.
GC-MS of Cinnamomum loureiroi: cinnamaldehyde runs 20–25% of the bark oil, nearly double Ceylon. Low eugenol keeps it clean, high coumarin is the warning label.
6.5%
Essential oil
of dry bark
25%
Cinnamaldehyde
of essential oil
11%
Moisture
post shade-drying
5000 ppm
Coumarin
reason for dose limits
Hot, sweet, candy-red -- the cinnamon idea at full volume.
Clove-like whisper -- far lower than Ceylon.
Hay-vanilla warmth, and the compound dietitians watch.
Floral-fruity lift on the top end.
Soft floral, barely there.
Woody-peppery backbone.
| Pepper | Cinnamaldehyde | Oil |
|---|---|---|
★ Saigon (Tra My) Vietnam highland · highest cinnamaldehyde | 25% | 6.5% |
Chinese Cassia Guangxi · bakery workhorse | 17% | 2.5% |
Indonesian Korintje Sumatra · mid-grade supermarket | 15% | 2.8% |
Ceylon Sri Lanka · eugenol-rich, soft | 1.5% | 2% |
Yen Bai Province, Tran Yen district · est. 1998
“Tan Viet's premium Saigon cinnamon line — the flagship 15-year-old Cinnamomum loureiroi trees of Tran Yen, the hottest, sweetest cassia in the world.”
MethodsSelective tree-by-tree harvest after the 15th year, bark split longitudinally rather than rolled (to preserve oil content), dried 7-10 days under shade on split bamboo, then cut to 6-8 cm sticks. Cold-pressed sample batch sent to an independent Hanoi GC-MS lab for every shipping lot.
How the world cooks with it.
3 signature dishes
Saigon cinnamon is the Vietnamese cinnamon -- a single quill carries pho broth, thit kho caramel, and morning coffee.
Beef broth toasted with one quill, star anise, clove and cardamom.
Pork belly braised in coconut water caramel with a split quill.
Egg coffee, a pinch of freshly grated Saigon cinnamon on top.
What it's called, from Phnom Penh to Palermo.
قرفة سايغون
qirfat saygun
西贡肉桂
xigong rougui
Saigon cinnamon
Cannelle de Saigon
Saigon-Zimt
साइगॉन दालचीनी
saigon dalchini
Cannella di Saigon
サイゴンシナモン
saigon shinamon
Canela de Saigao
Canela de Saigon
Protein
Sweet
It is the bark of Cinnamomum loureiroi, a species endemic to Vietnam's central highlands. Its essential oil runs 6–7% of dry weight with up to 25% cinnamaldehyde -- the highest on record among commercial cinnamons. That is why a pinch does what a teaspoon of cassia struggles to do.
Sources