PBS Test Kitchen is a TV show in conjunction with Cook’s Illustrated magazine. Each episode features professional cooks who test recipes and equipment, and perform taste tests on various products. Test Kitchen is hosted by Christopher Kimball.
On each episode various brands of one product are put to the taste test. Cinnamon was taste tested on the episode called An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving.
The Brands Compared
The taste test for cinnamon compared the following brands:
– Penzey’s Extra Fancy Vietnamese cinnamon
– McCormick ground cinnamon
– Penzey’s Ceylon cinnamon
– Durkey ground cinnamon
A Few Facts About Cinnamon
According to PBS Test Kitchen, “real cinnamon comes from an evergreen tree” from Sri Lanka or Ceylon. Real cinnamon became too expensive, and the cinnamon eaten today is from a similar plant from China, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Cinnamon has volatile oils that give it its distinct taste. The characteristics of cinnamon taste include heat and citrus or floral characteristics, and combine to give it the complex taste.
The PBS Test Kitchen Provolone Taste Test Winner
In the cinnamon taste test, cinnamon was put in applesauce for the tasting. The PBS Test Kitchen found that the Ceylon cinnamon, the real cinnamon in the bunch, came in third place with the taste testers. It has a piney or wintergreen, savory taste unlike what we think of as cinnamon. The winner was the Penzey’s cinnamon, which is a mail order product.
In second place was Durkey ground cinnamon, which can be bought in the supermarket; in third place was Penzey’s Ceylon cinnamon; and the least favorite was McCormick’s cinnamon.
