How to Brew a Proper Ceylon Cinnamon Tea

One of our customers in Edmonton, Canada drinks two to four sticks of our cinnamon every single day. She is one of the reasons we sell the bulk pack.

In Sri Lanka, this is how cinnamon has been used for centuries, not powdered into pastries, but brewed whole into a fragrant, warming, faintly sweet tea. People have been brewing cinnamon here far longer than anyone has been drinking coffee. It pairs well with quiet mornings and bad weather.

Here’s how to do it properly.

The method

You’ll need: 2 whole Ceylon cinnamon sticks, 250ml of water, and eight minutes.

1. Bring the water to just off the boil, not a raging boil, just the point where the bubbles start.
2. Drop in two whole sticks.
3. Cover and let it steep for eight minutes. Covering matters; it keeps the volatile aromatic oils in the cup instead of letting them escape as steam.
4. Strain into your favourite cup.
5. A small spoon of honey if you like, but don’t over-sweeten, the cinnamon is the point.

That’s it.

A few notes

Don’t add milk or chai spices. Those are wonderful drinks in their own right, but they bury the cinnamon. The first few times, drink it plain. You’re learning a flavour most people have never actually tasted.

Re-use the sticks. A good Ceylon cinnamon quill gives a second brew. After your first cup, leave the sticks in, top up with hot water, and steep again. The second cup is softer but still lovely.

Reach for Ceylon cinnamon. This matters more for a daily ritual than for occasional baking. Ceylon cinnamon’s naturally low coumarin makes it the gentle, sensible choice if you’re drinking this every day. (More in our friendly guide to the two types of cinnamon.)

How much you’ll go through

At two sticks a day, a 50g pack is about ten days of tea, and the 850g bulk pack is roughly five months.

Try it tomorrow morning. Make it before you check your phone. It’s a small, warm, deliberate thing in a day that usually doesn’t have many, and it’s the way the people who grow your cinnamon have started their own mornings for generations.

From the shop: our bulk Ceylon cinnamon sticks.