Mint hand painted by Mandy Aftel of Aftelier Perfumes from antique engraving©
One of our most familiar herbs, mint reminds us of gardens, home, family meals and mint juleps under a mossy oak tree. It epitomizes the descriptors mint and fresh, but your nose might also catch a hint of green, a slight herbal or anisic note, or even a bit of a musty and earthy undertone. It often seems sweet due to the abundance in candies. Peppermint and spearmint are the most recognized and most often used; there is also chocolate mint, corn mint, ginger mint, and a variety of others in this prolific family.
Mint by Elise Pearlstine©
Plants we think of as minty are generally in the genus Mentha but it turns out that the mint family has a wider embrace and includes many more of our familiar herbs like basil, sage, thyme, oregano, rosemary, lavender and perilla. Peppermint or Mentha x piperita is the result of an ancient hybridization between water mint (M. aquatica) and spearmint (M. spicata). Aromatic herbs in the family tend to originate in Mediterranean-type climates with dry summers and cool, wet winters. Their sharp or sweet, tangy or acrid tastes and smells help protect them from herbivores searching for a meal. To identify mint in your garden, look for an actively spreading or creeping plant, slightly fuzzy leaves, and square stems. Or, easiest of all, rub a leaf between your fingers and sniff for the smell of mint. This works great with other members of the family like basil or sage, oregano and rosemary.
Drying Herbs from Dreamstime©
Peppermint was an important early essential oil crop in North America and the foundation for companies that are still with us today. Volatile oils from the leaves are so strong, they can scent the air during harvest—it is perhaps one of the most overpowering smells in agriculture. According to Grace Firth, who wrote the charming book Secrets of the Still in 1983, volatiles in the air scented local cow pastures resulting in minty milk and butter during the harvest. The small-town paper Baker City Herald out of Oregon reports that neighbors of a local mint distillery will visit during the harvest to enjoy the temporarily ‘fresh’ air—including one man who brought his wife to cure her of snoring. Although the mint industry, specifically peppermint, began in the northeastern US, today the states of Washington and Oregon produce most of the mint oils, including spearmint. Mint plants like warm days and cool nights and are stimulated to produce essential oils after a bit of heat.
1850, EAU DE COLOGNE DES PRINCES, L.T. Piver, photo courtesy of Fragrances of The World©
In perfumery, mint notes are generally top notes and provide freshness, a natural feel, and cool aspect. Peppermint and spearmint are the types usually used due to their ‘clean’ fragrance.
Editor-in-Chief Michelyn Camen asked Michael Edwards, the award-winning author, fragrance ambassador and perfume expert about mint in perfumery.
“My understanding is that mint has been used in perfumery for literally thousands of years to freshen accords. In the database, our earliest mention is 1850, EAU DE COLOGNE DES PRINCES, L.T.Piver. Looking for well-known niche and designer fragrances that use “real mint” can be challenging because the pyramid notes major brands supply generally only list “mint” as a note. The origin is not disclosed. One of the exceptions is Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle. Geranium Pour Monsieur/Dominique Ropion uses mint absolute. Although mint is seen in fougere structures because it brings freshness and blends well with other aromatic notes, there is no pattern in our data. A simple search of mint shows it listed in fragrances across various fragrance families, not only aromatic Fougère.”
Many think of it mainly as an oral hygiene product and such products form the bulk of sales of essential oils. Peppermint, is a source of menthol which is one of the primary contributors to the freshness of minty products. Menthol has also long been added to cigarettes to make them more appealing and more addictive. Once marketed to teens and young people as a well-known pathway to addiction, in 1964, tobacco companies banned advertising and college campus giveaways to people under 21in the US to protect young people. The response of the tobacco industry was to aggressively pivot towards targeted marketing. The FDA has finally, in April 2022, proposed a rule to prohibit menthol in cigarettes.
Old Time Medicine Bottles via wiki
Throughout history, mint has been used in various medicines including taken with a bit of sugar for various stomach ailments. A bit can be held in the mouth to relieve a toothache, inhaled to relieve sinus pain, and perhaps added to lotion to relieve joint and nerve pain. In the early days of production in North America, peddlers would carry various essential oils along with their other wares from production centers in the northeast throughout the countryside. Glass bottles bearing the embossed name By the Kings Patent Essence of Peppermint have shown up in archaeological sites from the late 18th mid-19th centuries, associated with the military, fur trade, and Native American as well as domestic locations. This 1762 patent medicine was like many others that were sold on the streets of London as well, sometimes with ginger or black pepper added to increase the heat of the peppermint essence, or imbued with spinach and parsley to give a green color.
Peppermint Cordial Advertisement from Wikimedia
In addition to being used in mint sauce in England, an import from early Romans, mint may be found in savory dishes like tabbouleh or kebabs. In Cuba mint is found in the famous mojito where it joins with rum and sugarcane. In the American South the drink of the Kentucky Derby is the mint julep, so popular that over two days at Churchill Downs over 10,000 bottles of bourbon, 1,000 pounds of fresh mint, and 60,000 pounds of ice were used to serve thirsty big-hat-wearing attendees. Bartenders and southerners know that you need to bruise or spank the mint to bring out the aromatics, please don’t muddle.
Image courtesy of Amber Jobin of Aether Arts Perfume
Minthe was a beautiful river nymph of Greek mythology and daughter of a river god associated with the river Cocytus that flowed through the underworld. She attracted the attention of Hades but also the jealousy of Persephone, his wife. Persephone transformed Minthe into a common garden mint to be trampled underfoot but Hades gave her a sweet and attractive fragrance so all would be reminded of her.
Associated with air and the goddess Venus, mint interestingly, mint is often considered a masculine herb with characteristics of protection, virtue, personal strength, and prosperity. Keeping some around will freshen your environment, welcome visitors, and possibly bring wealth—especially if you carry some around in your shoe. It is sometimes associated with third eye awareness and peaceful sleep, also helping with mental clarity, and may be helpful to cleanse the air. Victorians looked to it for protection from illness but also as a message of virtue.
From Goddess to Garden, wherever you are and whatever the season, mint has appeal in perfumery, gardening, hygiene, and cooking.
Elise Vernon Pearlstine, Editor and Author of Scent: A Natural History of Fragrance
For our Mint in Perfumery Giveaway
US, EU AND UK: 30 ml Rogue Perfumery Fougere L’Aube which uses spearmint oil thanks to artisan Manuel Cross “Lush, Green Fougere”
Worldwide: 5ml Aftelier Chef’s Peppermint Essence
Worldwide: 5.5 ml Aether Arts Perfume Argent from 2x award-winning Art and Olfaction artisan perfumer Amber Jobin which is a subtle Ozone/Marine Fragrance featuring Mint oil, Musk & Cedar.
USA ONLY: ARCHIVE COLLECTION 2006- 30 ml of DSH Perfumes Menthe Moderne EDP composed by Art and Olfaction award-winning perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz which uses spearmint oil “Minimal. Urban. Crystalline.
To be eligible, please leave a comment about what you learned about mint in general and in perfumery. You must register here. Please list as many of the mint fragrances and/or chef essence you would like (all use real mint…not an accord) and where you live. Draw closes 11/12/2022. The winners will be announced within ten days after.
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