Twelve Days of Tea 2021 – Day Eleven
All along the Pacific Northwest we grow a lot of mint of all varieties, and it’s incredibly happy here (EDIT – as it tends to be in most places). Too happy. Even though I planted my pineapple mint, chocolate mint, spearmint, and peppermint in separate containers it found a way into an adjacent bed (or two) a foot away. They’ve also all intermingled somehow and birthed a horror of mint flavouring. It’s a weed given half the chance but it’s a persuasive garnish so we forgive it its’ many flaws… Hear that mint? (:Mint is unmoved by my speech and continues to vigorously fester, quietly, in its various containers and beds:)
Anyways… I’m on a tangent about mint because I haven’t seen a strong showing in my French advents this year and I missed its presence. Leave it to Anne to save the day for mint (I think peppermint but it’s been a long time since I’ve had “pure mint”, see above lol). My mom describes this tea as “soothing. Like a gentle hug.” No surprises that 52Teas’ Marshmallow Genmaicha, with the addition of peppermint and vanilla, is a winner. This is a similar flavour profile to Santa’s Secret from David’s Tea, sans tacky artificial note. It’s a perfect winter holiday tea.
Rating of 80, from three years ago, stands – with a slight bump because this is even better than I remember it!
Flavors: Candy, Cream, Herbaceous, Mint, Peppermint, Smooth, Sweet, Toasted Rice, Vanilla, Vegetal
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I’m imagining chocolate pineapple mint and I don’t know whether it would be really good or awful. :) This sounds like a nice holiday tea.
Yes, and it’s the Pineapple Mint that’s the clear troublemaker of the group.Constantly in “time out,” that one. :P
LOL. It sounds like it would be really good, though, when it isn’t causing trouble. Pineapple mint is now on my list of things to try if I can find it.
I don’t think it’s the tastiest of mints (chocolate mint wins), but it is unique smelling and showy – with fancy variegated leaves :)
It’s the prettiest and it knows it.
All plants and trees are happy there. Everything looks like it has been pumped full of steroids. Twelve times the size of the same thing in the East.
Also, your mom sounds so lovely.
Leafhopper, we do have all these mints here too.
I’ve had similar experience with homegrown mint, even when they didn’t tentacle their way into the other pots. I had high hopes for orange mint and pineapple mint one year and didn’t even get much “mint,” let alone the appropriate citrus. So I’m back to one at a time, and for me, it’s apple mint. Grows and performs as expected.
gmathis – any seeds that might find their way here?
CrowKettle, yes, I’m sure chocolate mint is tasty. It’s another one I want to try.
Evol Ving Ness, I’d have to grow that mint on my windowsill, as I don’t have a yard. It’s too bad those varieties of mint don’t find their way into tea shops.
Mint’s a pretty hardy, shade-tolerant, water-loving plant – it’d should take to windowsill/small planters. Oregon and Washington are the first regions that come to mind when I think big mint production but the Great Lakes are fertile spots too! We can all grow some kind of mint :)
My happiest, most compliant mint was a peppermint, but it died in a drought one year. I haven’t been able to grow as nice a peppermint since, and haven’t figured out how to coax a good leaf yield vs rhizome tentacle productions. No matter where I put it, the pineapple mint does both though. And flowers. XD
I’d love to see different mint types in tea blends or as a plain herbal. I guess I could experiment with my own..
CrowKettle, so not only is pineapple mint very pretty, but it’s also hard to kill. Sounds like a winner if you don’t have other mints nearby to be infiltrated/contaminated!
And you should definitely experiment with making your various mints into tisanes. :)
We always seem to have all the mint varieties growing. I think we even have an orange mint plant. I think the class Spearmint is still my favorite though.
Spearmint is fantastic. It, along with peppermint, are popular for a reason! :)
Ashmanra, just now seeing this…I don’t have any seeds at the moment—sent derk the ones I salvaged a while back. But you can have dibs on this year’s!
I’m imagining chocolate pineapple mint and I don’t know whether it would be really good or awful. :) This sounds like a nice holiday tea.
Yes, and it’s the Pineapple Mint that’s the clear troublemaker of the group.Constantly in “time out,” that one. :P
LOL. It sounds like it would be really good, though, when it isn’t causing trouble. Pineapple mint is now on my list of things to try if I can find it.
I don’t think it’s the tastiest of mints (chocolate mint wins), but it is unique smelling and showy – with fancy variegated leaves :)
It’s the prettiest and it knows it.
All plants and trees are happy there. Everything looks like it has been pumped full of steroids. Twelve times the size of the same thing in the East.
Also, your mom sounds so lovely.
Leafhopper, we do have all these mints here too.
I’ve had similar experience with homegrown mint, even when they didn’t tentacle their way into the other pots. I had high hopes for orange mint and pineapple mint one year and didn’t even get much “mint,” let alone the appropriate citrus. So I’m back to one at a time, and for me, it’s apple mint. Grows and performs as expected.
gmathis – any seeds that might find their way here?
CrowKettle, yes, I’m sure chocolate mint is tasty. It’s another one I want to try.
Evol Ving Ness, I’d have to grow that mint on my windowsill, as I don’t have a yard. It’s too bad those varieties of mint don’t find their way into tea shops.
Mint’s a pretty hardy, shade-tolerant, water-loving plant – it’d should take to windowsill/small planters. Oregon and Washington are the first regions that come to mind when I think big mint production but the Great Lakes are fertile spots too! We can all grow some kind of mint :)
My happiest, most compliant mint was a peppermint, but it died in a drought one year. I haven’t been able to grow as nice a peppermint since, and haven’t figured out how to coax a good leaf yield vs rhizome tentacle productions. No matter where I put it, the pineapple mint does both though. And flowers. XD
I’d love to see different mint types in tea blends or as a plain herbal. I guess I could experiment with my own..
CrowKettle, so not only is pineapple mint very pretty, but it’s also hard to kill. Sounds like a winner if you don’t have other mints nearby to be infiltrated/contaminated!
And you should definitely experiment with making your various mints into tisanes. :)
We always seem to have all the mint varieties growing. I think we even have an orange mint plant. I think the class Spearmint is still my favorite though.
Spearmint is fantastic. It, along with peppermint, are popular for a reason! :)
Ashmanra, just now seeing this…I don’t have any seeds at the moment—sent derk the ones I salvaged a while back. But you can have dibs on this year’s!