How to Put Cinnamon in Coffee: A Guide (with 2 Easy Methods!)

CoffeeSphere

4 years ago

Want to spice up your cup of coffee? Here’s how to put cinnamon in coffee!

Because ground cinnamon doesn’t dissolve in coffee, there are two solutions to still get that cinnamon flavor in your cup.

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One is to make a simple syrup and the second solution is to put it in your coffee grounds before you brew.

Here, we’ll go over a bit about cinnamon, why you should be adding it to your coffee and present step by step instructions on how to add cinnamon to coffee using those two methods we just described.

Does cinnamon dissolve in coffee?

You may be asking, can’t I just make a cup of hot coffee and pour in a pinch or two of ground cinnamon?

Well, you could. But the thing is, you’ll find out cinnamon does not dissolve. So you may find yourself drinking a few chunks of clustered ground cinnamon.

Cinnamon does not dissolve in coffee because cinnamon actually comes from tree bark.

I’ll have to ask an arborist to confirm this thinking… but I figured when it rains and water hits the tree, the bark doesn’t just disintegrate and dissolve. Trees survive rain. (Of course maybe it would after a very prolonged time immersed in water, but we’re talking about coffee here, so we’ll save the tree conversation for another time.)

Since ground cinnamon is from tree bark, the ground cinnamon will ‘survive’ the liquid, in this case, coffee.

Types of cinnamon

When you go to a grocery store, there may just be ‘ground cinnamon’ on the shelf. But did you know there are different types of cinnamon?

All cinnamon comes from the bark of trees belonging to the Cinnamomum genus. But can be divided into these two types:

Cassia cinnamon is the most common type of cinnamon produced in different countries. Within this group are Vietnamese (Saigon), Indonesian (Korintje) and Chinese cassia cinnamon.
Ceylon cinnamon, also known as the true cinnamon, is native to Sri Lanka and can be described as sweet and fruity. It’s usually a little more expensive than cassia cinnamon.

If you can get a hold of these different types of cinnamon, try one with your next cup of coffee and see if you prefer one over the others.

Ground cinnamon vs stick cinnamon

Watch this short video to see how cinnamon is harvested. The bark curls as it dries, giving a cinnamon stick its swirl. Some parts of the bark are turned into ground cinnamon, the narrower parts into sticks.

Which one is better for coffee?

It’s easier to work with ground cinnamon, as you’ll see in more detail in the methods below.

Ground cinnamon is used when brewing the cinnamon in coffee, meanwhile stick cinnamon is used for making the simple syrup.

Is coffee with cinnamon good for you?

Adding cinnamon to coffee doesn’t just make it taste good. It also has a variety of health benefits. We’re not medical professionals, so here are some benefits that we found:

Cinnamon consists of a compound called cinnamaldehyde, which can help with metabolism. (Source)
Cinnamon is high in antioxidants, like polyphenols, which helps prevent chronic diseases, preserve brain function and may help lower risk of cancer.
Relieves inflammation and can help reduce heart disease.
It can also act as a natural mouthwash and fight bad breath. (Source)
A great replacement for sugar to add flavor to your coffee!

How to make cinnamon coffee

So we covered that cinnamon cannot dissolve in coffee. But there are ways you can put cinnamon in coffee.

This is what you can do instead:

Method 1: How to make cinnamon simple syrup

Just like how we made our vanilla simple syrup, you’ll need one part sugar and one part water. And to make it a cinnamon flavor, you’ll also use a few sticks of cinnamon.

Here’s how:

Combine 1 cup of sugar, one cup of water and 3 cinnamon sticks in a pot.
Place over the stovetop on medium heat.
When it boils and the sugar has dissolved completely, turn off the heat.
Wait for the syrup to cool.
Take out the cinnamon sticks. You may have to strain the syrup if tiny pieces of the stick dropped into the syrup.
Once cooled, store in a container like a mason jar and place in the fridge.

To make a larger batch, increase the same amount of sugar to water and use a few more cinnamon sticks.

And to use your cinnamon syrup, just brew a cup of coffee as you usually would and pour in a tablespoon or two of the cinnamon simple syrup. You can also be creative and add in brown sugar to make it a snickerdoodle coffee.

Method 2: How to brew cinnamon in coffee

If you’re looking for a way to put cinnamon in coffee without sugar, this method is for you. You can do it with any brewing tool that you usually use.

It’s the same for each coffee maker:

Grind your coffee beans appropriate to the coffee maker you’re using. (Finer for moka pot and coarser for cold brew.)
Measure the amount of ground coffee, then add in ground cinnamon. You can mix this in using a separate bowl. Or just within the filter you’re using.
Brew coffee as you usually would.
Enjoy!

Here are some ratios for methods we’ve tried:

Keurig coffee maker – using a reusable k cup, add in the appropriate amount of coffee ground with a pinch of ground cinnamon. Then place the k cup in your Keurig coffee maker.

Moka pot – for our cinnamon iced coffee, we used a moka pot. To do so, we added ⅛ teaspoon of ground cinnamon to our 3 cup moka pot.

Drip coffee maker – if you’re using a drip coffee maker like a Mr Coffee Coffee Maker, the amount of ground cinnamon will depend on the number of cups your coffee maker makes. Start with around ⅛ teaspoon for a 4 cup coffee maker and work your way up.

Cold brew coffee – using a French press, we made 2 cups of cinnamon cold brew coffee concentrate. To do so, we used 1 cup of coarsely ground coffee and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. We put this in the French press and let it steep in 2.5 cups of water for about 14 hours.

You might be thinking, will the cinnamon clog my filter? I’ve tried these methods and the cinnamon does not clog the filter, whether it’s a paper coffee filter, moka pot or French press plunger filter.

Now you know how to put cinnamon in coffee!

Try either of these methods and start making some other creative recipes with it too.

Here are a few of our favorite ways to enjoy cinnamon coffee: