Right now in my garden all of the mints need to be harvested now. Several are huge and really need to be cut back and maybe even divided. Once the mints fill out their container it is impossible for me to keep them from wilting. Also I have noticed if I wait too long on harvesting them their appearance and flavor deteriorate. It’s as though the mints hit a stage where they scream pick me now or it will be too late.
I have so much peppermint to gather and dry as I have two large containers of it. The other day I decided to try out a recipe using fresh peppermint that I have never tried before. It is a recipe for peppermint liqueur. I did a search online for peppermint liqueurs and found several recipes. I decided to sort of do my own thing after reading different ones.
I wasn’t going to post this recipe until after it was finished and I had a chance to try it out but then thought better of that. I thought maybe I should share it now in case any readers out there have fresh mint ready to be picked and would want to try it out too. As I mentioned already, I have never made the recipe before so I have no idea if it is good or not. I have however, made blackberry liqueur and Kaluha before and judging off of those recipes this recipe sounds good to me.
Below is the recipe/experiment I came up with.
Peppermint Liqueur
Combine in a glass jar:
- 1 cup torn peppermint leaves, packed
- 3 cups vodka
Allow to steep for 2-4 weeks in a dark place. After steeping strain well and prepare sugar syrup.
Sugar Syrup
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
Combine sugar and water and bring to a boil making sure all of the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool before adding to the infused vodka.
Place in a glass bottle and age for at least one month.
I know when I made my berry liqueur the longer I let it age the smoother and yummier it became. I think I will try this peppermint liqueur after one month and see how it is before I decide if it should age any longer.
Below: Orange mint
On top of all the peppermint I have to harvest and dry I also have a ton of orange mint that needs to be picked now. Orange mint has such an interesting fragrance and smell. When I first started growing it years ago I wasn’t too fond of it but it has since grown on me. It is a very pretty mint to grow in a container and a container only as it is an aggressive spreader. Orange mint’s leaves are smooth and more rounded compared to peppermint. In the fall the leaves take on a purplish bronze. Its leaves make a nice addition to potpourri and sun tea. The flavor of orange mint is said to compliment Earl Gray tea.
Another very attractive mint that is in need of at least being potted up is my grapefruit mint. To me it almost doesn’t even look like a mint with its soft thick leaves. This is one mint that I have been considering planting in the ground as it doesn’t spread by aggressive runners. Instead it seems to gradually increase in size. It also has a very upright growth habit which I love about it. It too is a nice addition to sun tea and potpourris.
Yet another mint that is huge right now is my pineapple mint. I love growing pineapple mint in containers. Its variegated leaves are so attractive and look really good next to other container plants on my deck. I don’t usually harvest the pineapple mint though as I do not care for its scent or flavor. I once dried some and made a tea blend with it and hated it. I have not dried it since then. It does really well in containers and is one of the few mints I grow that does not have to be divided yearly. My favorite way to plant it is in a long terra cotta pot. It looks very pretty once it fills the container out.
Below: Pineapple mint
For the mint I am going to dry I will more than likely hang them in bunches. Because I have so much to dry, following my preferred method of drying herbs in the oven would not be very practical right now. At least with how warm it has been lately the mints will dry very quickly.
Yum mint. Mine is still way to small. I confess to having tea last night with my chocolate mint (and a mix of other herbs), but they really need to grow more. I put them in an area that nothing else will grow. They don’t seem all that interested in growing fast, but they are growing.
I’ve never grown herbs because I don’t know what to do with them!! What do you do with all the different mints besides the liquor??
Your pictures are pretty, and I love the name of your blog.
Daphne- I’m sure it won’t be much longer and your mints will start to take off!
Connie- There are so many things you can do with mint! They make great tea either hot or cold. You can add the leaves to fruit salad. Peppermint is great for a foot soak and makes a nice facial steam. I love to add dried mint leaves to potpourri. Maybe I need to do another post on the uses of mint??? HMMMM
Thank you for the compiment on my pictures and site name. It took me a while to come up with that name!
Your recipe for mint liqueur sounds yummy! I’ve got some peppermint getting into areas where I’d prefer not to have it and this would be such a novel way to use it. Some years I’ve tied together large bunches and hung them in the house to dry for use as tea in the winter. The smell was fantastic. I’ve also used fresh mint in Greek salads, tabbouleh, and spanakopita.
Krys- I love to hang bunches of herbs in the house to dry because it does make the house smell wonderful! I once made a recipe for tabbouleh and my kids hated it
. Mint is such a strong flavor and they really didn’t care for it.
I’m visitng you today from my other blog called An Herbal Bedfellow. It’s still me — Jane Marie.
I need to follow your example an get all of my mints in containers. Some are and others are not. The chocolate mint is taking over the place. “When I am time” before winter sets in, I plant to rearrange my herbs garden. It’s time for a shake up. It’s probably too late for the mints. Once they’re there, that’s where they keep coming up, year after year.
Jane Marie- I have seen what mint can do once it gets in the ground and makes itself happy! Good luck if you decide to move it. Some of my mints, like the orange mint for example, are so aggressive that the runners have “jumped pot” before and rooted themselves into their neighboring containers!