Exact quantities, then the method.
This is the cup to start with if you want to taste what Dragonfly Organic Three Mint Medley actually does. Mint is the opposite of Rooibos when it comes to heat: it does not want a fierce boil. Take the kettle just off the boil to around 95C, because a rolling boil scalds the menthol oils and leaves the cup bitter. Warm the mug, pour over, and steep for six minutes.
Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for the How to Brew a Cup of Mint Tea recipe. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/recipes/mint-tea/how-to-brew-a-cup-of-mint-tea/
The one thing people skip is the cover. Mint holds its character in volatile oils that drift off fast in an open cup, so a saucer over the rim keeps the aroma in where it belongs. Given the time, the three mints arrive in turn: peppermint and its cool lift first, the softer sweetness of spearmint through the middle, and the rounder, grassier field mint settling in underneath.
You'll need
- 1 Dragonfly Organic Three Mint Medley tea bag
- 250ml freshly drawn water
- 1 tsp acacia honey or raw blossom honey (optional, the cup is naturally sweet enough on its own)
- A small fresh mint leaf to garnish (optional)
Method
- Boil the kettle, then take it off the heat for about thirty seconds. That brings the water down from 100C to roughly 95C, which is what mint wants; a true boil would scald the menthol and turn the cup bitter.
- Warm the mug first by half-filling it with hot water, swirling and tipping it out. A cold mug pulls several degrees out of the brew in the first minute.
- Drop the bag into the warm mug and pour the water straight over, filling to about a centimetre below the rim.
- Cover the mug at once with a saucer or a tea cosy, to hold the menthol oils in rather than letting them escape into the air.
- Leave it covered and undisturbed for a full six minutes. Peppermint gives up its menthol early, spearmint follows in the middle, and the field mint base only opens up after about four minutes.
- Lift out the bag with a teaspoon, press it once against the side, and discard.
- Taste, and stir in honey if you like; most people find it sweet enough as it is, but a little honey takes it towards a Moroccan-style sweet mint tea.
- Drink it straight away, while the menthol lift is at its freshest, with a fresh mint leaf floated on top if you have one.
The tea it is made with, and what to make next.
Want the background, not just the brew?
Brewed with: Dragonfly Organic Three Mint Medley, 40 Tea Bags 100g
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