Harvesting ‘true cinnamon’: The story of the Ceylon spice

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Of the two types of cinnamon, the Sri Lankan “Ceylon cinnamon” is more expensive thanks to its laborious harvesting process. It takes four years for a cinnamon tree to reach a harvestable state. Its branches are cut down, soaked, and its outermost bark layer removed. Then, workers toil for hours to peel off the inner bark, taking great care to make the quills as thin as possible. The thinner the quills, the higher their value, with the most expensive grade being Alba, measuring only 6mm wide.
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