Exploring mint infusions
Four leaves, two of them mints and two of them not, arranged so that the difference between cooling and sweet becomes obvious rather than theoretical.
Who this is for
Someone whose herbal drinking begins and ends with a packet labelled mint.
What you should come away with
You will be able to tell peppermint from spearmint blind, which is the single most useful discrimination in the herbal aisle.
The two mints, then two leaves that are not
Peppermint first because its menthol is the reference point. Everything after it is measured against that cooling, and the last two show how far the mint family reaches beyond mint.
Starting point. Everything after this is measured against it.
Sharply cooling and slightly peppery, with a bitterness that arrives if it is steeped long. Far colder in the mouth than spearmint.
Why this step follows
The gentler of the two mints. Spearmint is sweet where peppermint is cooling, and tasting them in this order makes the menthol in peppermint obvious in retrospect.
Sweet and rounded rather than cooling, with none of peppermint’s cold bite. This is what most people who like mint tea actually like.
Why this step follows
Still a mint-family leaf and still soft, but the citrus replaces the cooling note. A small move that shows how wide the family is.
Softly lemony and slightly green, with none of the sharpness of actual citrus. Dried material is a shadow of the fresh leaf.
Why this step follows
The same lemon character, sharper and cleaner, and from a different family entirely. Anyone who liked the balm will find this the more concentrated version of what they liked.
Bright clean lemon with almost no bitterness and a slightly sweet finish. Distinctly sharper and less waxy than lemongrass, and it holds up under a long steep.
Read alongside
- Botanicals that are commonly confused
Two marigolds from different genera, two verbenas, two cinnamons, a Coreopsis sold as a chrysanthemum and a safflower sold as saffron. The most useful page in this catalogue for anyone buying.
- Leaves used in botanical drinks
The largest botanical category, and the one that divides most cleanly: leaves grown to be drunk, leaves that are kitchen herbs with a second life, and leaves that are by-products of a fruit crop.