“Sugar & Spice and all things nice” goes the famous nursery rhyme,
which comes to mind when it is baking season. Nothing like a fresh
pie or cobbler coming out of the oven to wake up the taste buds!
Apple Spice is akin to our Pumpkin Spice as they share many of
the same ingredients, but the emphasis leans very differently for
each blend. This blend features more Ceylon Cinnamon and brings
in Cardamom and Mace, which are our favorite spices to pair with
all things apple. Not only for sweets, but this blend also makes a great glaze
that pairs well with pork chops and a classic baked ham!

Spice Quality Matters!

As with all of the ingredients we utilize in our products,
the spices we source for Apple Spice are no exception!
Many herbs, seeds, and peppers can be grown in a variety of climates
and there are many options in the market to source those ingredients.
Most spices, however, have very specific climates that they are
indigenous to with many having a clear region that produces the
highest quality product.
We at Rae&Ryan’s spare no expense to source the highest quality
version of each spice from the region most renown for producing it.

What is Apple Spice?

~Cinnamon~

Cassia	Ceylon

Cinnamon is the bark of the Cinnamomum Verum or Cinnamomum Cassia trees.
These two main classes of Cinnamon are strikingly different when tried side by side.
Ceylon has a mild and delicate flavor that is much sweeter in application without
any bitter notes. Cassia has a much higher oil content and can be quite pungent
which helps it really cut through in a recipe, but poor quality Cassia can
be overpowering and bitter.
We have expertly blended both Ceylon and Cassia in this spice blend to bring you
a full spectrum flavor that has the sweet and subtle notes of Ceylon as well as
the higher octane boldness of Cassia!

Cinnamon trees require 3-5 years from planting before they can have their bark harvested,
which can be done twice a year during the rainy season, but are not considered mature
until 15 years old. Much like the coffee and chocolate industries, many spices like, Cinnamon,
are a commodity that are harvested by hand and considered a skilled labor.
Incorrectly harvesting the bark can kill the tree and ruin future crops.
In addition, the highest quality Cinnamon is harvested from the
trunk of the tree, with a lesser quality coming from the branches.

Ceylon Cinnamon(Cinnamomum Verum)

is what is considered “True Cinnamon”, but is often not the cinnamon
that most Americans are familiar with. Ceylon Cinnamon is a thin and
brittle bark that when rolled into sticks looks like many fine layers
of parchment paper. Ceylon Cinnamon sticks have 0.5% to 2% essential
oils made up of mostly cinnamic aldehyde.
The varying amounts of oil depends on where the cinnamon sticks
were grown which is why we source our Ceylon Cinnamon from
its true source, Ceylon! The Island of Ceylon is now known as
Sri Lanki and is the undisputed king of Cinnamon producers!

Cassia Cinnamon(Cinnamomum Cassia)

is not “fake” cinnamon as opposed to the “true cinnamon” of Ceylon,
but it is a cousin of the original Ceylon Cinnamon.
Both trees are in the Laurel Family and share many of the same
genetics and flavor compounds.
Cassia is a much thicker bark that rolls up into a single dense layer
rather than many thin parchment pieces. Ceylon cinnamon is easy to
crumble, but Cassia requires a lot of force to snap in half.
The main whole cinnamon stick sold in American grocery stores is
Cassia. There are many cheap and poorly produced varieties of
Cassia in the market, but there are also some excellent types
of Cassia that are outstanding, if you know where to look!
Cassia Cinnamon has an essential oil content of 0.9% to 7%
which is why we source our Cassia from Vietnam which is renowned
for an exceptional Cassia quality. The grade of Cassia we purchase
is guaranteed to have a minimum of 5% volatile oil content!

Ginger (Zingiber officinale)

We source an organic and non-irradiated ginger which we peel,
slice, and dry in-house for the most potent product possible.
Slicing and drying both ginger and garlic is truly a tedious
labor of love!

Allspice (Pimenta dioica)

We source our Allspice exclusively from Jamaica!
There is no other source on the planet more esteemed
for the quality of Allspice berries that are
produced than in Jamaica. Many other companies
will shortcut their recipes with Mexican Allspice
to save money, but that is an inferior product.
Mexico imports many great foods, especially peppers,
but Allspice is not one of them.

Jamaican Allspice is cultivated and farmed on the island
with much care being given to the crop and its production.
The berries are hand-picked, tend to be more uniform in size
then wild berries, and have a higher concentration of volatile
oils which is between 4 and 5 percent.

Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum)

Whole Pods	Seeds

Cardamom is an herbaceous, perennial plant in the ginger family,
that is native to southern India. Cardamom plays a wonderful
role in many Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian cuisines.
One of the most exotic and expensive spices, cardamom sells
for about $30 per pound. Cardamom ranks third in most expensive
spices with Saffron and Vanilla holding the first two spots.
The highest grade of Cardamom pods are green and these pods
contain small black seeds that are the flavor of legends.
The whole pods work well in mulling spices and teas, but for
cooking purposes, we only use the seeds.
A little before World War 1 a German coffee planter by the
name of Oscar Majus Klöffer brought Cardamom to Guatemala
and by the year 2000 Guatemala had become the world’s
foremost producer with India in a close second. We source
our Cardamom from Guatemala where the fertile tropical soils
produce a fresh and potent spice pod.

Nutmeg  & Mace (Myristica fragrans)

Nutmeg seeds with mace removed	Nutmeg and Mace blades	Mace blades

Nutmeg is the seed of a fruiting tree named Myristica fragrans.
The seeds are dried slowly and best used by grinding the seed fresh per
application. Like many spices, nutmeg will start to lose potency after
being ground. Nutmeg is a staple spice in many baked goods and confections,
but is also seen in savory foods. Italian pasta sauces, sausage, and curry
dishes all use nutmeg as well. Nutmeg is made up of 6.5% to 16% essential
oil, made up of mysristica, which is a pale yellow color. When pressed,
whole nutmegs make nutmeg butter, or oil of mace, that is made up of 24%
to 30% essential oil. We source our Nutmeg from both India and Indonesia
depending on the rainfall for the year and which region was able to
produce a better crop.
Mace is the red strings that grow around the Nutmeg seed and it is very
rare for one plant to produce two spices or culinary products. Another
example is the plant cilantro which produces a fresh herb, but the seed
of that plant is the spice coriander. Both have completely different
flavor profiles, but come from the same plant. Likewise, Nutmeg and Mace
are intertwined, quite literally, but they do have a similar flavor.
Mace is sweeter and more delicate where nutmeg is more pungent and biting.
I see these flavors as two sides of a coin, they compliment each other
very nicely. Our Pumpkin spice uses Nutmeg, but not mace because the
heavy-hitting cinnamon drowns it out. In our Apple Spice however, the
cinnamon is much more gentle and leaves room for Mace to shine. Mace
and Cardamom together are one of my favorite flavor combos!
We source both our Mace and Nutmeg from either India or Indonesia
depending on the rainfall and who was able to produce a better crop
from year to year.