Tea leaves

Growing up in Michigan, our family acquired a mint plant. It loved the fertile soil so much that it took off into the lawn and into the farmer's lot beside ours. Perhaps my love for mint was acquired as I regularly hit the mint plant with the lawn mower trimming back it's domain and sending up the nicest scent. As a child I made my grandma "mint tea" by boiling water and placing a few fresh mint leaves in it. She'd tell me it was wonderful and take a sip.

The other day, I purchased some dried spearmint leaves with the thought to make my own mint tea. With big expectations, I crumbled them into a tin and prepared a cup. The results were underwhelming. The tea was minty with a nice garden quality. A second cup made twice as strong (two big teaspoons) and steeped for longer (five minutes) was better. The water acquired a little tint to it, but still lacked a full flavor. So the question is, is it worth it?

The dried spearmint cost $3. It yielded about 1/3 the amount in a typical store bought container of tea. In my opinion, it wasn't as high of quality as your typical Amanzi tea. Perhaps it needs to be blended with another leaf to produce a fuller flavor. I would try it again if: 1. it was peppermint (my favorite), 2. the leaves were picked at the right time, and 3. the leaves were free (from my garden). So this spring, peppermint might go on my garden list and we'll try this again. But I'll otherwise stick with store bought teas.