Turkish Mint: What It Is and How It Differs From Other Mints

Turkish mint is a trade name rather than a botanical one. It usually refers to Mentha spicata grown and dried in Turkey and the surrounding region, though the term gets applied loosely enough that it is worth asking what a given seller means by it.

What Separates It From Other Mint

The main difference is not the species, it is the drying. Mint grown in hot dry conditions and air dried slowly holds its oils better than mint dried fast with heat. That shows up as a stronger aroma when you open the bag and a fuller flavor in the cup.

Against peppermint, spearmint is milder and sweeter with far less menthol bite. Peppermint is a hybrid with high menthol content, which is why it reads as cooling and sharp. Spearmint leads with carvone instead, which is rounder and less aggressive.

Grades and Cut

Mint is sold as whole leaf, cut and sifted, or powdered. Whole leaf keeps its oils longest and is the easiest to judge by eye and nose. Cut and sifted is the standard for tea blending. Powder loses aroma quickly and is mostly a culinary or capsule ingredient.

Good dried mint is green, not grey or brown. Color loss means either heat damage during drying or age on the shelf, and both cost you aroma.

Brewing

Use water just off the boil rather than a hard rolling boil, which drives off the volatile oils that carry the flavor. Steep covered for five to seven minutes so the aroma condenses back into the cup instead of leaving with the steam.

Mint takes well to blending. It is common with black tea in the region it comes from, and it pairs cleanly with chamomile, lemon balm and green tea.

Storage

An airtight container away from light and heat. Mint is one of the herbs that fades fastest, and a jar sitting next to a stove will be noticeably weaker within a few months. Buy whole leaf and crush it as you use it if you want it to last.

What to Look For

Judge it by smell first. Good dried mint announces itself as soon as the bag opens. If it takes effort to smell anything, it is old or was dried badly, and no brewing technique will fix that.