Fresh Ingredients

Fresh Mint

Fresh mint for cocktails means spearmint, whose sweet, green smell comes from carvone; peppermint, a menthol-led hybrid, makes a Mojito taste medicinal. It reaches a drink in two forms: picked leaves, pressed lightly or shaken in for flavour, and a sprig, the leafy tip of a stem, slapped and stood in the ice for its smell. A bunch stood in water in the fridge keeps three to five days.

Quick Facts

ABV0%

Legal categoryFood

OriginVarious (commonly Europe, North Africa, Middle East)

Flavour Strengthlight medium

SeasonSpring / Summer

Our keeping timeThree to five days refrigerated, stems in water.

Storage

Stand the bunch in a glass of water like cut flowers, cover it loosely and refrigerate. It holds for several days that way and almost none loose in a bag. Strip out dark or wilted leaves rather than muddling them.

Allergens

None of the 14 listed allergens.

The ingredient

About Fresh Mint

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

HerbalMintCoolingFresh

Tasting Notes

Sweet, green and cooling, from carvone in the leaf. Pressed lightly it tastes fresh; torn or ground it turns grassy and bitter.

Cocktails want spearmint, not peppermint

Two mints are sold side by side, and one of them is wrong for drinks. Spearmint, Mentha spicata, is the plant mint drinks were written for; its main aroma compound is carvone, which reads sweet and green. Peppermint is a cross between spearmint and water mint, and its oil is led by menthol: cooling, sharp, the smell of toothpaste. A Mojito made with peppermint tastes medicinal, and more sugar will not fix it. Read the label, and on a potted plant look for the Latin name.

Pressed leaves give flavour and torn leaves give bitterness

The oil sits in small glands just under the leaf's surface and comes out under light pressure. Press once or twice, straight down with the flat end of a muddler, with no twisting, and stop while the leaves are still whole. Grinding rips the leaf, and chlorophyll and bitter green notes come out with the oil. Woody stems add bitterness too, so strip the leaves first. Black flecks through a finished drink mean the mint was worked too hard.

Not every drink presses its mint. The Southside and the Old Cuban shake whole leaves along with everything else; the ice bruises them enough, and the strainer catches them. The Missionary's Downfall blends ten leaves with pineapple, which pulls out colour as well as oil.

A sprig is for the nose and pressed leaves are for the palate

A sprig of mint is the leafy tip of a stem, a short length carrying a cluster of young leaves. As a garnish it barely changes the liquid. It sits under the drinker's nose, so each sip arrives through the smell of mint, and where it sits decides whether it works: beside the straw it works with the drink, on the far side of the glass it is decoration.

Clap it once between the palms to wake the oil, then push the stem down into the ice so it stands. A julep crown is a packed bunch of several sprigs; a Mojito or a smash takes one. Use the tips of the bunch for garnish and keep the larger lower leaves for pressing. A single leaf, floated shiny side up, is the quieter finish for a drink with a foam or a cream top.

Three ways mint goes into a drink

Sprig

What it is: The leafy tip of a stem
What it does: Aroma at the nose; slapped, set by the straw
In our recipes: Mojito, Mai Tai, Scorpion, Moscow Mule

Single leaf

What it is: One unmarked leaf, shiny side up
What it does: A quiet note on a foam or a short drink
In our recipes: Old Cuban, Grasshopper

Picked leaves

What it is: Leaves stripped from the stem
What it does: Flavour through the drink; pressed or shaken
In our recipes: Mint Julep, Southside, Eastside, Whiskey Smash

Form	What it is	What it does	In our recipes
Sprig	The leafy tip of a stem	Aroma at the nose; slapped, set by the straw	Mojito, Mai Tai, Scorpion, Moscow Mule
Single leaf	One unmarked leaf, shiny side up	A quiet note on a foam or a short drink	Old Cuban, Grasshopper
Picked leaves	Leaves stripped from the stem	Flavour through the drink; pressed or shaken	Mint Julep, Southside, Eastside, Whiskey Smash

Mint lasts days as a leaf and a week as a syrup

Buy it with firm stems and leaves free of dark edges, because mint does not recover once it has properly wilted. Stand the bunch in water, cover it loosely, refrigerate, and it holds three to five days. A few minutes in iced water firms a drooping sprig for one round of drinks.

For a batch, a mint syrup gives an even flavour that pressing cannot match. Steep picked leaves in warm simple syrup, ten to fifteen minutes at most, then strain; a longer steep pulls bitterness out with the oil. It keeps a week in the fridge, the house rule for infused syrups.

Using it

Using Fresh Mint

Usage

Our Mojito takes six sprigs, the IBA's measure, pressed lightly into the sugar; our Mint Julep strips the leaves from four. Shaken drinks such as the Southside and the Old Cuban put whole leaves straight into the tin, and most long drinks can finish with a slapped sprig.

Pro Tip

If a mint drink tastes bitter, look at the stems and the muddler before the recipe. Bitterness nearly always means torn leaves or stems in the glass, and more sugar only hides it.

Top Tips

Buy spearmint. Peppermint is a different plant, led by menthol, and turns a Mojito medicinal.
Press the leaves once or twice, straight down, and stop. Twisting or grinding tears them, and then the mint tastes grassy and bitter.
Strip the leaves from woody stems before pressing, and keep the soft tips of the bunch for garnish.
Slap a garnish sprig just before serving, not while you build, so the smell is still there when the glass reaches the drinker.

Possible Substitutions

Basil: A different drink: peppery and anise-edged, and it wants a firmer press

Production Method

Mint leaves are harvested fresh and prepared by removing stems and selecting intact leaves for use. No processing beyond washing and trimming.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

What is a sprig of mint?

The last few centimetres of a mint stem, the growing tip, with its cluster of small young leaves still attached. Recipes use the word in two ways: as a garnish, slapped and stood in the glass for its smell, and as a measure, where six sprigs in a Mojito means six of those leafy tips.

How many leaves are in a sprig of mint?

There is no fixed number: a sprig is measured by stem, not by leaf. A typical tip carries a cluster of small leaves with a pair or two of larger ones lower down. Where the count matters, our recipes give leaves instead, such as eight in the Whiskey Smash.

How do you garnish a drink with a mint sprig?

Pick a fresh tip, give it one sharp clap between your hands to wake the oil, and push the stem into the ice next to the straw so the leaves sit where the drinker's nose goes. One sprig suits a tall drink; a julep takes a packed bunch standing proud of the rim.

What is the difference between a mint sprig and mint leaves?

A sprig is a whole leafy tip, set on the drink for aroma, and nobody eats or muddles it. Mint leaves are picked off the stem and pressed or shaken into the drink for flavour, then often strained out. Many drinks use both: leaves inside, a sprig on top.

Why slap mint instead of muddling it?

Because slapping and muddling are for different things. A slap wakes the aroma on a garnish without breaking the leaf. Muddling is for extraction and belongs inside the drink, and even then it wants a press or two, straight down, since grinding releases chlorophyll and turns the flavour flat and bitter.

How much mint does a Mojito need?

Six sprigs, the IBA's figure, which our Mojito follows, pressed lightly with the sugar rather than ground. Pick off any woody stems first. More mint does not make the drink mintier; the extra leaves get torn rather than pressed. Our Mint Julep strips the leaves from four sprigs and keeps more tops for the bouquet.

Is spearmint or peppermint used in cocktails?

Spearmint, for fresh mint. Its main aroma compound is carvone, sweet and green, and its oil carries little menthol. Peppermint, a cross between spearmint and water mint, is led by menthol and tastes colder and sharper. Peppermint has its place in a bottle: it is the mint distilled for crème de menthe.

How do you keep mint fresh?

Stand it in water like cut flowers, cover it loosely and refrigerate. It holds three to five days that way and barely one loose in a bag. A limp bunch revives for about an hour in iced water, which covers a round of drinks but is not something to plan an evening around.

Should you strain the mint out of a cocktail?

In a shaken drink, yes: the Southside and the Old Cuban shake whole leaves in and strain them out, so no shreds reach the glass. In a built drink such as the Mojito or the Julep the pressed leaves stay under the crushed ice, and do no harm if they were pressed rather than torn.

From the Guides

How to muddle mint without bitterness

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