Snap Crackle POP

Ta Da! This stuff is pretty bitchin. It found me one day while I was leisurely strolling through Costco for lunch...it's really amazing how fast you can fill up on free samples. A man had an entire pop corn truck with a display case for the popcorn and speakers for the popcorn music of course, with a huge Popcornopolis logo on the side. What a production to sell a product at Costco. Well, it worked! They had the standards: cheddar popcorn, kettle popcorn, popcorn popcorn, caramel popcorn, sour cream and onion popcorn (wtf?), aaaaaaand Cinnamon Bun popcorn!!! "I'll take 3 bags sir!" Aaaaaa mazing. I don't recommend eating them all in one sitting, but hey, if you got the munchies, go to town. They also have a Cinnamon Toast flavor that is wellllll worth buying me for my birthday. Write it down. :)

An Ode to the Sailor

Good ol' Sailor Jerry, or as we like to call it, Serry Jailor, thanks to the drunken word fumbling from Senor McBride. I knew there was a reason I liked this stuff. Within its aromas and spices lies the ingredient that i so love. I'm therefore making SJ the official rum of Cinnamonee. Sure, there's probably other hard a's out there that are more cinnamon inclined, but how can you do any better than rum+cinnamon?? C'mon maaaan! Cuba Libre's till i diiiie.

Chance Encounter

I finished work and got a call from my bud Nick telling me to meet him and Dan Cobley at The Counter's new location in El Segundo. I'm not too stoked on 10 dollar burgers but i tell myself it's like a cover to get in because this place has it all. I walked in and the DJ was bumpin Drake and the place was packed but nobody was dancing. How??? It was almost awkward, the music was blasting and I'm raging in my seat watching everybody's feet tap to the beat. Burger and a dance fiesta anyone? Down. So how does cinnamon tie into any of this? I really wanted a milkshake, but there were no flavors listed on the menue. I asked our waitress Natalie what they were: "We have chocolate, peanutbutter, vanilla, coffee, churro.." CHURRROOOOO!!!! No way!!! I asked her to explain this unfamiliar treat and supppppoooosedly, they take freshly baked churros and vanilla ice cream and make them uuuughhh. I HIGHLY recommend trying one, highly.

Horchata

If you have never tasted this sensational beverage, do yourself a favor right now and go try one at your local mexi joint. This is the top right here in the cinnamon-beverage realm as far as I'm concerned. You may have no idea what i'm talking about but I can assure you that you've been looking at horchata your whole life and just may have known it as Orange Bang's neighbor. As a freshy in college, I had never ventured over the fence to check it out. One afternoon, after surfing in Santa Cruz with my bud Jerel, we strolled downtown into Taqueria Vallarta and he ordered a large horchata and whatever it was he ate. Ever so curious I asked him what was in the silky white waterfall within the plastic fountain. "Cinnamon a...." I stopped listening and ordered a large as well and whatever it was I ate. Turns out the rest of his sentence was "...nd rice milk." Stoked. A dreamy thang horchata is. A churro in a cup as I like to call it. I've decided to put it on my mission list to find the best homemade horchata in Mexi restaurants, fairs, or wherever else it's available and make a list. If you have a favorite, lemme know! Up to this point in my search, Taqueria La Cabana on the westside of Santa Cruz, right next door to the Arrow surf shop, has the best homemade horchata I've had. Mmmmmmm.