![]() ![]() (A high-proof grain alcohol like Ever Clear is your best bet. Place it in a mason jar and cover it with a high-proof alcohol.Once dry, rough-chop it to increase its surface area.Allow it to dry so that it does not add extra water to your alcohol. If you are buying your mint at a market, time your infusions with your shopping. Here is my basic recommended process but it is extremely flexible. For triple infusions, I typically let each infusion sit for about a week before straining out the herb and adding more. Do that again for a “triple infusion” and so on. Whether you manage to find a peppermint plant or use one of the other many mints, I recommend you plan on multiple infusions for a full flavor.Ī single infusion is simply the process you will see described most often: Add the herbs to a high-proof alcohol, let the mixture sit for weeks in a dark place, strain out the herbs, and keep the alcohol extract.Ī double infusion is simply another round of the above: strain out the herb and add new, fresh herb to your alcohol. I found some bergamot mint in a local creek and while it would be a great extract project in itself, it will never taste anything like peppermint. If you use spearmint for your extract, you’ll have a nice flavor but don’t look for the brightness of peppermint.Īt the risk of being overly obvious, keep in mind that there are four million types of mints out there. It certainly does not taste like Christmas candy canes. Spearmint has a nice flavor, a bit more earthy and less “bright” than peppermint. “That’s not peppermint! Shame on that nursery! Where did you find it?”Īs I said, it’s hard to find actual peppermint. “Here’s a plant labeled ‘peppermint,’ Mom!” I brought a “peppermint” plant home a few weeks ago to show my mom, more adamant and opinionated on this issue than anyone I know. Even in high quality nurseries you often find that plants labeled “peppermint” are some sort of spearmint instead. ![]() It is still great and cooking but it will not give you the full flavor you were expecting. The fresh herbs sold in your local grocery store as peppermint are very likely to be spearmint as well. ![]() More commonly, plants sold as peppermint are actually some sort of spearmint. Is your peppermint actually peppermint?įirst, dollars to donuts, the plant you have grown or purchased as “peppermint” is probably not peppermint. Is your peppermint really peppermint? Second, use the herbalist trick of multiple infusions to get an optimum flavor out of your herbs. First, pay attention to the plant itself. There are two details that matter in creating a successful peppermint extract, in my opinion. The devil’s in the details on peppermint extract. However, if you’re like me, you may have tried it and wonder where all the flavor went. There are websites all over the Internet that will explain to you how to carefully harvest and rough chop your herbs and then add them to a high proof alcohol to create your own herbal extract, peppermint extract included. All you need is a fresh herbs, alcohol, and time. With mint growing all over our yard and increase in the forest nearby, of course I’ve wondered how to make peppermint extract myself. I love to add peppermint extract to my coffee, particularly when I need a little extra perk. There is something magical about the bright flavor of peppermint.
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