Cinnamon Myrtle
Cinnamon myrtle is the aromatic leaf of an Australian rainforest tree, valued in beverages for its warm, spicy, cinnamon-like fragrance. It is most often used dried and steeped as a caffeine-free herbal infusion, either on its own or blended with other native leaf spices.
How cinnamon myrtle is prepared
It is used chiefly as a herbal tea (tisane), steeped as dried leaf in hot water either alone or in native-spice blends. It also serves as an aromatic infusion for flavoring milk-based, iced, and no- and low-alcohol specialty drinks, and as a warm-spice botanical in craft soft drinks and infused syrups.
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In depth
Origins in the Australian rainforest and Indigenous use
Cinnamon myrtle comes from a small-to-medium rainforest tree that grows in the warm temperate and subtropical forests along Australia's eastern seaboard, from Victoria up through New South Wales into Queensland, usually favoring moist ground near creeks and rivers. Its leaves are dotted with oil glands that release a warm, cinnamon-like scent when crushed, and it is known by several regional names including grey myrtle, carrol, and ironwood. Aboriginal peoples of eastern Australia knew and used the plant well before it was formally documented by European botanists in the nineteenth century, valuing its distinctive aroma as a flavoring. This early Indigenous familiarity with the aromatic leaf laid the groundwork for its much later role as an infused drink ingredient.[1]
A bush tucker ingredient revived for the table
For most of Australia's colonial history, native aromatics like cinnamon myrtle were overlooked by settlers who preferred familiar imported flavors, and traditional Indigenous foodways were badly disrupted by dispossession and the introduction of non-native foods. From the 1970s onward, however, non-Indigenous Australians began to rediscover the culinary value of native plants, and the bush food industry grew rapidly. Cinnamon myrtle is counted among the native leaf spices of eastern Australia's rainforest belt, listed together with lemon myrtle and aniseed myrtle as Backhousia relatives prized for flavor. This broader bush tucker revival is the direct cultural pathway by which the leaf moved from wild rainforest tree to a marketed ingredient suitable for teas and other drinks.[2]
Cinnamon myrtle as a herbal tea
The most established beverage use of cinnamon myrtle is as a herbal tea, or tisane, in which the dried leaf is steeped in hot water. Such infusions are not true teas, since they are not made from the tea plant, and like most tisanes cinnamon myrtle brews are naturally free of caffeine. The tradition of steeping spices, leaves, and other plant material to make aromatic drinks is ancient and worldwide, embracing everything from chamomile and rooibos to cinnamon tea, and cinnamon myrtle fits neatly into the warm-spice end of that spectrum. Its cinnamon-like aroma makes it a natural stand-in for a spiced herbal cup, valued both for its warmth and its lack of stimulant content.[3]
How the infusion is prepared
Preparing a cinnamon myrtle drink follows the same basic method as any herbal infusion: hot or boiling water is poured over the dried leaf and left to steep before the plant material is strained away. Because the leaf's aromatic character comes from volatile oils, adequate steeping time allows those compounds to be drawn out into the water, and cold-brewing is also possible over a longer period. The strength and character of the resulting cup depend on leaf quantity, water temperature, and steeping duration. Like other infusions, a cinnamon myrtle brew can be sweetened, combined with milk, or served chilled, and it can equally be infused into oils or syrups rather than water alone for use in mixed drinks.[4]
Blends with related Australian leaf spices
Cinnamon myrtle is frequently used alongside its close botanical relatives rather than in isolation. Lemon myrtle, another Backhousia species, has become one of the best-known Australian bush food flavors, widely made into teas and tea blends and infused into oils, while aniseed myrtle is likewise used as a herbal tea ingredient with its licorice-like anethole aroma. Because these three native leaves share a rainforest heritage and complementary flavor profiles, cinnamon myrtle is a natural partner in native-spice tea blends, contributing warm, spicy depth to counterpoint lemon myrtle's citrus brightness or aniseed myrtle's sweetness. This blending tradition mirrors long-established practices in the tea world, where leaves and botanicals are combined to build layered flavors.[5]
Contemporary use in specialty and low-alcohol drinks
In the modern beverage landscape, cinnamon myrtle has found a place beyond the teapot as producers of craft soft drinks, botanical sodas, and no- and low-alcohol specialty beverages reach for distinctively Australian flavors. Its warm, spice-forward aroma suits it to infused syrups, aromatic waters, spiced cordials, and non-alcoholic aperitif-style drinks, where it can supply the comforting note of cinnamon without the woody bite of true cinnamon bark. The same botanical is also distilled or infused for use in flavored preparations, reflecting the wider commercial cultivation of native leaf spices in Queensland and New South Wales. As interest in native and caffeine-free ingredients continues to grow, cinnamon myrtle remains a versatile warm-spice botanical for both hot infusions and cold, mixed specialty drinks.[1]
References
- [1]EncyclopediaBackhousia myrtifolia — Wikipedia↑§1↑§6
- [2]EncyclopediaBush tucker — Wikipedia↑§2
- [3]EncyclopediaHerbal tea — Wikipedia↑§3
- [4]EncyclopediaInfusion — Wikipedia↑§4
- [5]EncyclopediaBackhousia citriodora — Wikipedia↑§5
- [6]Instagram@non.world — Sep 20, 2024↑prepared
- [7]Product informationPROGRESS1 Poached Plum & Finger Lime — official product details, captured 2026-09-11↑prepared