Mindy03 said:Which. Mint do you use? There are so many to choose from.

Is there a bad mint? Actually I think there was. I had a pineapple mint a few years ago....

Careful what you say about 'pineapple '. About a month ago I got a good size pineapple sage. It's one of my favorites.

If I had to pick a favorite mint it would most definitely be chocolate mint. Maybe not the best for tea but it's great over ice cream.

Had some chocolate mint, might still, as mint has taken over the bed. It did have a chocolaty taste. Are you saying that you put mint leaves on ice cream? Hmmm..... not sure I'd like that. But if I would look up distilling essential oils... oil over ice cream could work.

And as far as pineapple goes... I used to not care for it until I had it glazed and roasted... then it's like give me give me give me.

It's been so long ago that I really don't remember what I did. But my 3 favorite foods in the world are chocolate, ice cream and gelato.

Well now I had think on the question of is there a bad mint. I'm not fond of apple mint and dind't like pineapple mint. Pineapple sage was OK but didn't excite me. My favorite mints so far are spearmint and chocolate mint. I need to start chocolate mint again it's disappeared from the bed.
Other members of the mint family I like are thyme and bee balm. Mountain mint was a bit too strong for me. I love lemon mint but having a hard time locating that one

I absolutely love lemon verbena, lemon balm, and lemon mint. I also like lemon thyme. Of course I don't have enough sun to grow any of them. But I did many years ago when I lived in Austin and had 2 large herb beds.

The thing about pineapple sage is the flowers. The leaves don't do much. But I used to have to fight the birds and bees to get a few flowers.

Basically I'd take a basket and just pick leaves from this or that and then make tea. Can't do that now.

Anyone have or even try mojito mint? I've rubbed my fingers on some in local nurseries (because I'm bad) and I didn't really notice any flavor. Maybe it's just me. Or maybe people buy it for the name?

tx_flower_child said:I absolutely love lemon verbena, lemon balm, and lemon mint. I also like lemon thyme. Of course I don't have enough sun to grow any of them. But I did many years ago when I lived in Austin and had 2 large herb beds.

The thing about pineapple sage is the flowers. The leaves don't do much. But I used to have to fight the birds and bees to get a few flowers.

Basically I'd take a basket and just pick leaves from this or that and then make tea. Can't do that now.

Anyone have or even try mojito mint? I've rubbed my fingers on some in local nurseries (because I'm bad) and I didn't really notice any flavor. Maybe it's just me. Or maybe people buy it for the name?

Lemon balm... only bad thing about it is the plant self seeds... everywhere... I like drinking it hot even on a hot summer evening. It's a natural sedative and goes really well with mint.

As far as rubbing your fingers on a plant and being bad at a nursery... I actually take a leaf off and eat it. I realize there could be pesticides... oh well. Only way I can see if I like the taste of an herb and for $4 a plant at least, I'm gonna make sure.

Mindy03 said:Well now I had think on the question of is there a bad mint. I'm not fond of apple mint and dind't like pineapple mint. Pineapple sage was OK but didn't excite me. My favorite mints so far are spearmint and chocolate mint. I need to start chocolate mint again it's disappeared from the bed.
Other members of the mint family I like are thyme and bee balm. Mountain mint was a bit too strong for me. I love lemon mint but having a hard time locating that one

I tried apple mint as well. The regular mint took over the bed with the spearmint struggling to keep up. I really need to thin out the regular peppermint and maybe get some more chocolate mint and spearmint growing.

thommesM said:
As far as rubbing your fingers on a plant and being bad at a nursery... I actually take a leaf off and eat it.

Oh, I do that too. Might as well confess to it. I only do that at organic nurseries but when I think of all the pesticides I've probably consumed in my lifetime, a little leaf or two is probably not going to matter. Oh. Maybe it could just tip the total over the edge. Wouldn't that be the darnedest thing.

I also like apple mint. Don't like grapefruit mint but I don't like grapefruit so that works out ok. The crazy thing is that I don't like mint mint. As in spearmint or whatever the other usual suspects are.

Spear mint is another fav and grows near my pond.

Spearmint tastes like chewing gum and peppermint tastes like candy cane. I probably prefer spearmint tea, but peppermint takes over the bed.

I drink a lot of mint tea
I find peppermint too strong for my taste , prefer the spearmint.
Found a mint calles sweet mint a couple years ago and It has become my favorite , replacing the chocolate .

FYI chocolate mint is called so because of the dark stem , not the flavor , it is a marketing trick chocolate mint is a dark stemmed sport of spearmint.

Interesting tidbit about the chocolate mint Cinda. Thanks for sharing with us.
I want to get a start of the julep mint that is used to make the drink mint julep at the KY Derby. I have found a source for it in KY yay.

I was checking my herbs this afternoon after it quit raining. The lemon thyme is doing really well with the cool winter we have had. And my husband spotted the bee balm poking up through the ground. Everything else is still sleeping.

The lemon tree is putting out leaf buds and he's talking about pruning it so I will have some lemon tree leaves to try as a tea.

Currently I'm drinking an orange peel tea that has orange peels, lemongrass, a tiny bit of the thyme he broke off when he checked the plant for me, cloves and a bit of rosemary. Tastes pretty good with honey added not so good without it

I saw one mint called Yerba Buena for sale at a grocery store. I'm thinking I might try it. That one is from Mexico...not sure if it's at all cold-hardy, however. Then I heard of an herbal tea for digestive problems...which I've got plenty of the digestive problems. It's called CCF for Cumin, Coriander and Fennel seeds. Found instructions on this website.
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/...

Not sure if I have a stomach bug, food poisoning, or something else. Put some spearmint in with some shou puerh and it seems to be settling the stomach some. Could just be the heat, or just the mint, doesn't really matter.

BTW, I've bought a Mojito Mint plant a few times. I kept one plant alive for a full year, but guess I've been careless with them and can't keep them alive very long. Maybe if I had a greenhouse...who knows?

@LindaTX8 - So Linda, did the Mojito mint taste like a mojito? Or maybe it's just meant to be placed decoratively in a mojito if one were inclined to drink a mojito. Dunno.

Glad I'm not the only person who can kill a mint. Everyone always says how much they spread and are indestructible. I wish I could keep at least one alive.

It is really good, similar to spearmint, but different. I made mojitos, the first year I had the plant. Excellent drink! but since I had never had one with the authentic mint before, hard to say if it's better. And now I don't drink anymore. Age sometimes does that...old age, alcohol and medications just don't mix well.

For those of you that are fond of dandelion tea (or as an ingredient), when & how do you harvest the dandelion? I've got a lot that are blooming in my yard right now. In fact that's about all that's blooming. Sigh. I've been telling the birds that they're supposed to like dandelions but I don't think they're listening. I also know that some people use dandelion leaves in salads but I'm not ready to go that far yet.

I harvest the flowers when they don't feel like the flower stalk in the center is forming. It's a hard little bump in the center when it's getting ready to show itself. I don't do the leaves at all or the root though I may harvest some roots this fall.
Even if you don't use dandelions for herbal purposes they are an excellent plant for the honey bees.