A few years ago I began growing a little mint. Soon it became a lot of mint and now it’s many different mint varieties. Don’t worry, I grow all of them in large pots to prevent unnecessary spread except one, the Spearmint is in my garden.
Pineapple mint
Mint Varieties
This summer I have 7 mint varieties and I am actively drying them to create my favorite summer iced teas. I am growing Pineapple Mint, Apple Mint, Strawberry Mint, Spearmint, Peppermint, Chocolate Mint, and Orange Mint.
Strawberry Mint
Harvesting Fresh Mint
To keep things manageable, I have decided to cluster all the mint pots on my deck right outside my back door. This way they are easy to care for and simple to harvest. I find it’s important to harvest often to promote growth. The best way to harvest is to cut your mint stems just above the new, tiny leaves. I love this snip tool the best. A sharp, clean cut will strengthen the plant, keep it healthy and encouraging it to branch out in other directions.
Harvesting Peppermint
After I snip my many mint varieties I wash the leaves thoroughly, carefully removing the leaves from the stems. I find it’s easier to remove the leaves at this stage before drying, but you may find you like removing them after. It really doesn’t matter, just do what is easiest for you. Once cleaned and separate from their stems, I place them on a large serving dish or my stainless baking pans to dry. Sometimes I just let them air dry for a few days and if I am going to be home for a while I bake them in my oven at 175 degrees. If you choose to put them in the oven or dehydrator, it will only take a few minutes. This step is very important because you do not want any moisture left in the leaves because they will quickly mold when stored.
Drying Orange Mint
storing the mint
Once you are sure your mint leaves are completely dried out, it’s time to store them. I like to use Mason jars but I last year I made the mistake of sealing them off with traditional Mason lids. I learned that even if you have just ONE moist leaf, your entire batch will be ruined because with traditional lids, there will be no air circulation. So this year I found these wonderful stainless steel screen lids that fit Mason jars. Not only are they now circulating the air, but they allow the lovely mint scent to fill my pantry.
Stainless Steel Mason Lids
Chopping the leaves
After the mints dry I briefly run them through my coffee grinder or food processor if I have a large amount. This chops the leaves so they are small enough for the tea bags. It’s not necessary but I like if the leaves are a bit chopped up.
Unchopped Dried Spearmint
Chopped Dried Strawberry Mint
designing the teas
Once you have a collection of dried mints or other tea favorites like dried orange, lime and lemon peels, echinacea petals, lavender, and chamomile it’s time to create some tea bags. I found these wonderful unbleached tea filter bags by Numola. What I like about them is they have a drawstring, not a staple, and they are compostable. They do not come with a label tags so I use simple little kraft hang tags which I tie on the bag. Simply open the filter bag, fill with one or multiple varieties of dried mints, flowers and fruit, tie securely, add your label and you are all set. I like to make these herbal & floral teabags for gifts, breakfast baskets and my own summer iced teas!
Unbleached Teabags
I hope this blog inspires you to grow some mint or other tea-worthy plants and that it helps you create some warm winter sips or cold refreshing teas. I look forward to hearing about your herbal tea experiences.