A peppermint cordial is a handy bottle to keep in the fridge: stir it into hot water for a quick after-dinner cup, top it with soda for a cooling long drink, or drizzle it over fruit and ice cream. It's caffeine-free, and the gentle, off-the-boil method keeps the menthol fresh rather than cooked out.
Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for the Peppermint Leaves Cordial Base recipe. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/recipes/mint-tea/peppermint-leaves-cordial-base/
It uses Teapigs Peppermint Leaves, a pure caffeine-free peppermint infusion. Fifteen minutes, and it makes about 500ml.
You'll need
- 6 Teapigs Peppermint Leaves tea temples
- 400ml water
- 250g caster sugar
- Juice of 1 lemon
- A small handful of fresh mint, optional, for extra lift
Method
- Boil the water, let it stand 30 seconds off the boil, then pour over the 6 temples in a covered jug and steep 8 minutes. Covering and the slight cooling keep the menthol from boiling away.
- Lift the temples out, pour the strong mint brew into a pan with the sugar, and stir over low heat just until the sugar dissolves; do not boil hard or you cook off the freshness.
- Take off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and the optional fresh mint, and leave to infuse 10 minutes.
- Strain and pour into a clean bottle.
- For a hot cup, mix 1 part base with 4 parts just boiled water. Cooling soda: 1 part base, 4 parts cold soda. Also good drizzled over fruit salad or vanilla ice cream.
- Keeps 2 weeks in the fridge; caffeine free, so good last thing at night.
Want the background, not just the brew?
Brewed with: Teapigs Peppermint Leaves, 15 Tea Bags 30g
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