making fresh peppermint tea...
@macdingolinger (10385)
United States
May 28, 2011 4:49pm CST
I have what may be thought of as a silly question but I really do not know. I like to drink peppermint tea. My son's aid bought be a peppermint plant and I put it outside and it is really growing quickly. I was wondering when do I get to start enjoying it? Do I have to wait until it reaches a certain level of maturity? Do I have to dry the leaves first or what? Please help me enjoy my plant!!
1 person likes this
1 response
@JoyfulOne (6231)
• United States
29 May 11
No question is ever silly! I grow a couple of different kinds of mint, peppermint and spearmint. When I make it, I take about 5 or 6 (rinsed) leaves, add them to a mug, and pour boiling water over. Sometimes I use a teaball to contain the leaves, but usually I'm too lazy haha. I do store them for winter use for teas and such. For that I usually rinse clean, air dry, and then put in a really sunny place on a cookie rack, with a paper towel under them. They air dry real nice! When we do iced teas, we usually rinse and add them to the water in the ice cube trays. When we make shortcake, we usually add a spring or two just cause it looks pretty while adding a little flavor. The size of the leaf doesn't seem to matter in the least, there's oils in them no matter what the size. When using, or drying, the mint leaves, I never use the stem (stalk) parts. Have fun! Oh, and sometimes we make a mint jelly to go along with lamb or different foods...it's yummy too:-)
1 person likes this
@macdingolinger (10385)
• United States
29 May 11
That is some awesome information!!
It makes me even more excited about trying it now! But I will have to wait for a little more growth on my plant first. But I might try sticking a leaf in some ice cubes and just letting that flavor my water first.. do you think that would work?
It makes me even more excited about trying it now! But I will have to wait for a little more growth on my plant first. But I might try sticking a leaf in some ice cubes and just letting that flavor my water first.. do you think that would work?1 person likes this
@JoyfulOne (6231)
• United States
29 May 11
It should work ok, but you probably wouldn't get the mint taste until the cube melted to expose the leaf. If you wanted just to flavor the ice cubes first, I mean before adding the mint leaf, I would let some water sit in a cup with a few crushed leaves in it first for a while. Then I'd remove the crushed ones (or strain), fill the cube trays with that, and then add the leaf. Crushing the leaves seems to release more of the natural oils. I'm a mint lover lol, so sometimes I'll even add a few real young tender leaves in a salad. Sounds strange, but with the right mix of different lettuce and salad fixings, I think it tastes pretty good. (not a whole lot of mint leaves, but just a few for some zing.)
