Cinnamon sticks are properly called quills and true cinnamon is easily distinguished from cassia when in quill form. After harvesting and drying, cinnamon quills curled tightly while the much harder cassia has a looser, scroll-like curl. True cinnamon is a tan colour compared to the dark red-brown of cassia.
A well-made quill is a slender cane of uniform thickness, colour and quality, with edges cleanly joined like a telescope in a straight line end-to-end. Quills should be firm, compact and have less rather than more “foxing” – reddish-brown warps caused by dampness. Foxing is a cosmetic defect that can depreciate the value of quills depending on the amount. In Sinhala, superficial foxing is called “Malkorahedi,” while heavy foxing is “Korahedi.” Whether a quill is Malkorahedi or Korahedi is based on the depth of the foxing patches.
Cinnamon should have a moisture content of no more than 14%. Pipes are normally packed in 45 kg bales and generally classified into 10 grades according to diameter and number of 42 inch pipes to a pound; permissible amounts of foxing are specified for each grade. Quills are sometimes “buffed” with sulfur for markets with a preference for light-colored bark. Chips, referred to as “quillings” and “featherings,” are sold as medium-quality cinnamon for grinding into cinnamon powder, sold on its own or as “pudding spice” in a compound with nutmeg, clove, cardamom, mace and allspice. The chips are also sold for the distillation of oil.
Cinnamon is graded according to its diameter (tightness of curl), colour, flavour and appearance. Cinnamon comes from the inner bark surrounding the cambium (the wood) of the cinnamon bush. Whole cinnamon has a significantly longer shelf life than ground cinnamon. The most typical raw cinnamon products are sticks; quillings, pieces of bark of remaining from the preparation of quills; featherings, the inner bark of discarded twigs and shoots; chips, trimmings from quills and inseparable inner and outer bark; powder; cinnamon bark oil; and cinnamon leaf oil.
