Cinnamon Coast · Roadside Spice Tea
Ceylon Cinnamon Tea
📷 Closely related photo — Photo: Anonymous engraver; Johannes Janssonius van Waesberge (publisher) / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Peelers still roll the inner bark by hand into nested quills, which are graded by thickness, with the thinnest and most prized grade called Alba.
Fresh-cut cinnamon bark is steeped straight into hot water at plantation stops and roadside stalls in the hills behind Galle, poured out after a peeling demonstration for visitors passing through the coastal cinnamon country.
Why it's made this way: The hills behind Galle are Sri Lanka's historic cinnamon heartland, the source of the 'true cinnamon' the Dutch and Portuguese once fought over, and roadside tea is how growers still introduce the spice at its source.
More from Sri Lanka
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