Cinnamon

[SandyM]

McCormick's? Nah........Spice Islands? No way! I found a new thing, and I wanted to share it with everyone out there. Of course, maybe I'm living in the dark ages and you all know about.......VIETNAMESE CINNAMON. I needed to re-stock, and while browsing the King Arthur Flour web site, I came upon some Vietnamese Cinnamon. Sounded interesting enough to try. It came on Thursday, just in time for some out-of-town guests this weekend. Made French Toast with my new find, and it was AWESOME. I could never figure out why the cinnamon I used to buy never tasted like cinnamon candy I enjoyed. Well, this is the real thing. The smell will blow you away. It's stunning! I was intimidated at first, using it in small portions, but after the first couple of pieces of French Toast, my husband said "Needs more cinnamon - it's so good!!!" I'm hoping I can find it at my local gourmet store.

[Melman]

I agree!! I have my own personal boycott going against any spice/herb that could be purchased at a normal grocery story. I'm convinced those items must have the highest markup of any item available in the store!!!

Instead....PENZEY's!!! I haven't tried the King Arthur Cinnamon, but I can definitely say that Penzey's has AWESOME cinnamon. Not only do they have Extra Fancy Vietnamese Cassia Cinnamon (I'm looking at the catalog right now! ;-)), they also have other varieties including Ceylon Cinnamon that I think is even better than the Vietnamese variety.

Those little metal boxes on the grocery shelf do not come close to how wonderful this cinnamon smells or tastes!!!!

[andi]

Are Penzeys and Spice House also on-line? Sounds delicious...

[Beth]

Originally posted by andi:
Are Penzeys and Spice House also on-line? Sounds delicious...

Yes, at penzeys.com and thespicehouse.com. I haven't ordered from King Authur Flour (my grocery store carries the flours), but I've heard lots of good things about the flours, extracts, and more available there. I've been meaning to check them out and get a catalog, so this will be my reminder.

[shoyski]

Melman, are you saying it's less expensive to order from these places or that you pay more but it's worth the money? In my mind, although I'd pay more for something better, including shipping and handling costs has got to drive the price much higher.

[Beth]

Shoyski, if you don't mind, I'll jump in with my 2 cents worth. I think it depends on how you order (in jars or bags, and how much). For example, the ground cinnamons in the Penzey's catalog range from $3.49 to $7.29 for 4 oz. with the least expensive being the types that are most similar to the grocery store variety and the highest being the Ceylon. Vietnamese is in the middle. If you buy a 1/2 cup glass jar (1.7 oz.), it ranges from $3.19 to $5.99. Penzey's shipping starts at $3.95. In the bags, I think you save and get a better product. In jars, you may not save money, but you still get a better product.

I don't have a catalog for The Spice House or King Arthur, but I noticed that The Spice House was a little less for many of the items I ordered last time. Penzey's was a little less on others. As I said above, The Spice House still sells smaller quantities, comparable to the 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup jar sizes at Penzey's, in the zip bags. When you don't pay for a glass jar each time, you save money no matter where you are buying. There aren't many places where you can shop on-line or by mail and get 10 or more items for $30 -- about what my last order was.

[This message has been edited by Beth (edited 10-10-2000).]

[Beth]

Penzey's and The Spice House both carry the Vietnamese cinnamon, which has 6-7% oil vs. about 4% in the others. Grocery store varieties may be a little lower, or just not a fresh. They say to use 2/3 the amount of Vietnamese cinnamon that is called for in a recipe, but I usually measure cinnamon generously (rounded to heaping spoons), so maybe I can just back down to normal measuring. I just recently ordered some of the Vietnamese cinnamon as well as some curry and other spices. My kitchen smelled so good I didn't put them away for a few days!

BTW, I should add that I have ordered from both on-line and from Penzey's catalog. I've enjoyed dealing with both of them, but I appreciate that The Spice House sells in smaller "bulk" quatities (in a ziploc bag), where Penzey's used to but now only sells amounts of 4 oz or more in bags. For smaller amounts, you wind up paying more for the jars than some of the spices, so if you keep jars that you refill, that may be a consideration.

[This message has been edited by Beth (edited 10-10-2000).]

[Norma]

Here is another instance where the vacuum packer is wonderful. You can put the spices you want to store in 1/2 pint, pint, or quart mason jars and vacuum pack. They stay fresh.

[Melman]

I find that I usually buy lots of the 1/4 cup jars of Penzey's spices for several reasons. Cost is one of those reasons because, even though I like using a variety of these spices, there are only a couple of the spices that I use a LOT. When I'm ordering, I keep reminding myself that spices are only supposed to have x-number of months for shelf-life. Other than cinnamon, I doubt I've emptied even a 1/4 cup bottle in a short amount of time.

With the small bottles, I feel like I'm getting a real bargain when I want to experiment or test out a new spice. I'm much happier spending under $2 for most of the 1/4 cup jars than to usually spend much more than that in a grocery store for NOT fresh products.

I also look at these small bottles as a bargain when I can order so many for the minimum shipping charge. The small bottles in Penzey's run anywhere from $1.09 to $2.89 (Ceylon Cinnamon) with MANY running in that less than $2 range. I typically order about 5-6 items for that minimum shipping. For $1 extra shipping, I get another $10 of spices. That's where I think these things are a bargain. (The shipping chart jumps up a dollar for each $10 worth of product.) PLUS....I usually have friends who also order which means we divide the shipping fees between us.

By the way, with the cinnamon (since that's what started this topic), I bought a couple of the 1/2 cup jars of different kind of cinnamon initially, and then purchased the bags to replenish the jars. That seems to be the most economical.

I need to check out the Spice House though. That sounds like a fun (dangerous??) place to add to my favorite shopping sites!!

[Grace]

Shelly,

I find that Penzey's is MUCH less expensive than the grocery store. But I have a Penzey's store nearby, and therefore don't have to pay shipping and handling. But where most of the spices at the grocery store are $2-$3 for the small bottles, the same size bottle at Penzey's is around $1.25 - $1.50 or so (depends on the spice - there are a few that are more than that, but that's on average). So I can go in there and pick up 2 or 3 different new and unusual spices, and only spend a couple dollars, and then not feel bad if it's something I don't like or something I don't use very often. And they are SOOOO much fresher than the grocery store stuff. I'm completely hooked. I go in there nearly every Saturday with my Mom. I don't know what their shipping and handling charges are, but it may still be cheaper considering they're at least half price of the grocery store??? I'm not sure - check it out and see...but I would highly recommend their stuff!

Grace