Cinnamon in Coffee: Simple Ways to Use It Every Morning

Coffee and cinnamon are one of those pairings that just works. The warmth of the spice softens the bitterness of the coffee, adds a faint sweetness, and makes the whole cup smell like something you would order in a cafe. Best of all, it costs you almost nothing and no extra sugar.

Our family has been drinking cinnamon in one form or another for as long as we can remember, and coffee is where a lot of our Australian customers start. Here are the ways we actually make it at home, from the quickest dusting to a proper spiced latte.

The quickest way: a dusting on top

If you want the simplest possible version, dust a little ground cinnamon over the foam or crema once your coffee is poured. It sits on top, you get the aroma first, and it slowly works its way down.

A word on quantity. Ceylon cinnamon is gentle and citrusy, not fiery like the cassia sold in most supermarkets, so you can use a bit more without it turning sharp. Start with a small pinch and adjust. A heavy hand of dry powder on top can end in a small cinnamon cough, so ease into it. If you are using our true Ceylon cinnamon powder, it dissolves and blends more softly than the harsh stuff, which is exactly what you want floating on a flat white.

Brew it in with the grounds

For a rounder flavour that runs all the way through the cup, add the cinnamon before you brew rather than after.

• Drip or filter: add a quarter teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the grounds in the basket before you start.
• Cafetiere or French press: stir the cinnamon in with the grounds, pour your water, and let it steep as normal.
• Whole sticks: drop a whole Ceylon cinnamon stick into the pot or the press while it brews. It softens the bitterness with no grit at all, and you can lift it out and use it again. We go deeper on this in how to use cinnamon sticks.

Brewing it in gives you a smoother, more even flavour than dusting on top, and it is the method most of our daily coffee drinkers settle on.

A simple spiced latte at home

You do not need a fancy machine to make a warm, spiced latte. Here is the version we make on a slow morning.

1. Brew a strong coffee or pull a shot of espresso.
2. Warm your milk, dairy or oat both work well, and froth it if you can.
3. Add a pinch of cinnamon and a tiny drizzle of honey or maple to the milk as it warms.
4. Pour the coffee, top with the milk, and dust a little more cinnamon over the top.

If you want to make this even easier on a weekday, keep a jar of Ceylon cinnamon sugar by the kettle. One spoon sweetens and spices at the same time, so your latte comes together in seconds.

Cold brew and iced coffee

Cinnamon is lovely in cold coffee too, and summer here in Australia gives us plenty of reasons to make it.

For cold brew, drop a whole cinnamon stick into the jug with your grounds and water before it steeps overnight in the fridge. The slow, cold infusion pulls out a clean, sweet cinnamon note without any bitterness. Strain it in the morning and pour over ice.

For a quicker iced coffee, stir a little cinnamon syrup through your glass. It mixes far better with cold liquid than dry powder, which tends to clump. We have a keep-in-the-fridge version in our cinnamon syrup recipe.

A small note on why it feels good

Plenty of people tell us they add cinnamon to their coffee because they are trying to cut down on sugar, and the warmth tricks the palate into reading the cup as sweeter than it is. There is also ongoing research into cinnamon and blood sugar, though the findings are mixed and nothing is settled. If you are curious about that side of things, we rounded up what the studies actually say, hedged and honest, in Ceylon cinnamon benefits.

This is not medical advice. If you are managing blood sugar or any health condition, please talk to your doctor before making cinnamon a daily habit. For general background, the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health has a plain-language summary worth a read.

Which cinnamon to reach for

If you take one thing from this, let it be the type of cinnamon you use. Most ground cinnamon in supermarkets is cassia: hot, sharp, and much higher in a compound called coumarin. Ceylon cinnamon, the true cinnamon, is milder, sweeter and naturally very low in coumarin, which makes it the sensible choice if you are drinking it most days. The flavour difference in a cup of coffee is genuinely noticeable. For more on that, see our piece on Ceylon cinnamon vs. cassia, and the Cleveland Clinic has a clear rundown too.

Start small and see

The nice thing about cinnamon in coffee is that there is no wrong way to do it. Dust it, brew it, or drop a stick in the pot, and let your own taste guide the amount.

Our cinnamon is grown and hand-rolled on our family estate in Sri Lanka, and a little goes a long way. If you would like to try Ceylon cinnamon in your morning cup, a jar of Ceylon cinnamon powder is an easy place to begin. However you take your coffee, every purchase helps the growers who tend our trees, and that is the whole reason we do this.