Sip on a soothing and refreshing cup of homemade fresh mint tea and say goodbye to dull, bitter store-bought versions for good.
Every night after dinner you can be sure to find me with a hot cup of mint tea in my hands. A nightly cup of caffeine-free tea is my little ritual that marks the end of the day. For me, it's a vital moment of calm and comfort before turning in for the night.
The wonderful thing about mint tea is that it's much more flavorful to make yourself than to buy. You can mix several different kinds of fresh mint together like spearmint, peppermint, and chocolate mint to make your own special blend, or just keep it simple and stick with one. One of my favorites for digestion is peppermint (source), so I often make a simple peppermint tea to sip on after meals.
Is Fresh Mint or Dried Mint Better for Tea?
Once you’ve tried a cup of fresh mint tea you’ll never go back to the dried mint tea you get in a box. There’s just no comparing the flavor of brewing from fresh leaves vs. dried. Fresh mint tea tastes bright and clean, while the flavor of dried mint can be rather bitter and dull when brewed too long.
Fresh mint tea also works wonderfully either as a hot or cold infusion. At night I'll make it hot, but during the day I let it cool and keep it in the fridge for when I want something minty and refreshing to drink. Here’s what you’ll need:
Ingredient Notes:
(Here are a few notes about the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe. As always find the full list of ingredients and directions in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.)
- Fresh Mint - Use any variety of fresh mint you’d like or try a combination. Most of the mint you will find in grocery stores is either peppermint or spearmint.
- Water - Use filtered water for the best flavor.
- Sweetener - Use whatever sweetener you prefer.
How to Make Fresh Mint Tea:
(Here are the basic steps and some helpful tips on how to make the recipe. Find the full directions in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.)
The key to making the best mint tea is to crush the fresh leaves while they are brewing to release the fragrant and flavorful essential oils. You can do this by using a tea pot with a built-in strainer or by placing a strainer over a heatproof bowl.
- You’ll start by rolling the tea leaves firmly between your fingers to bruise them then tear and drop them into the strainer.
- Next you’ll pour the boiling water over the top and with a muddler or the back of a wooden spoon lightly crush the leaves.
- Let the mint steep for a few minutes, strain, sweeten and you are ready to serve!
Variations:
- Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to make mint lemon tea.
- Add freshly grated ginger to make mint ginger tea.
- Add green tea to make Moroccan mint tea.
More Caffeine-Free Teas:
How to Make Fresh Mint Tea
Sip on a soothing and refreshing cup of homemade fresh mint tea and say goodbye to dull, bitter store-bought versions for good.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves (preferably organic)
- 2 cups/480ml filtered water
- Sweetener of choice to taste
Instructions
- Roll the mint leaves between your fingers to bruise them, then roughly tear the leaves with your hands and place them in a small strainer placed over a teapot or glass bowl.
- Bring the water to a boil and pour over the leaves. (The water should cover the leaves in the strainer)
- Gently bruise the mint leaves with the back of a wooden spoon or a muddler to release the oils.
- Cover the teapot or bowl and let the leaves steep for at least 5 minutes, then remove the strainer pressing on the leaves to extract as much liquid as possible.
- Pour into tea cups or mug and sweeten to taste if desired.
Notes
Variations:
Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to make mint lemon tea.
Add freshly grated ginger to make mint ginger tea.
Add green tea to make Moroccan mint tea.
For iced mint tea: follow the directions above adding sweetener if using while the tea is still warm, then store in fridge until ready to serve. Serve over ice with an additional sprig of fresh mint.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
2Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 6mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 0gSugar: 9gProtein: 0g
Nutritional information for recipes contained on this website, such as calories, fat, carbs, etc. are only estimates and are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Sylvie Shirazi is the recipe developer and food photographer behind Gourmande in the Kitchen. For the last 10 years she's been making eating more healthfully easy and accessible with gluten-free, grain-free, paleo and vegan recipes that are free from processed ingredients.
Mara says
I have some orange mint growing, too, I think I will try this with! Thank you for the recipe!
Cheryl says
Thank you for this post! My son has a fever this morning and I wanted to make him some fresh mint tea with ginger (I just trimmed back my mint yesterday). I think after I make the hot infusion, I'll cool some and make a sun tea as well. I appreciate the inspiration!
Also, I have raspberry bushes in my yard as well and when I trim the suckers, I keep the leaves for tea. I add them to the mint and dry some for later use.
bk says
I am also drinking dried mint tea right now, but your page made me excited to try using fresh leaves. We have tons of spearmint growing along the side of the house as a decorative ground cover that smells wonderful all summer long. Growing up my mom made mint-infused water for us all summer. No boiling, she just put the fresh mint in a pitcher of cold water and let it sit in the fridge over night. Just leave the mint attached to the stem and then you can easily pull out the mint a day or two later. Best summer drink ever.
Jennifer (Delicieux) says
I love mint tea, any tea for that matter, and in fact I am sipping a cup right now! Unfortunately it's dried mint tea, which is what I keep on hand at work.
Beautiful photos as always.
Melissa says
I love this! so pretty. And mint grows like a weed on my deck all summer so I will definitely be trying some homemade mint iced tea this year!
Sylvie says
Yes, that's the wonderful thing about growing your own mint, there seems to be an unending supply of it!
Twiggs says
hello sweet friend, how are you? i thought i could just come by and leave a "hello to you girl!" and i chose this recipe to do it because i bought mint to grow on my kitchen because of this, and every time i look at it, i think about doing this tea! maybe this weekend i will try this simple recipe and smooth my weekend evenings! thank you and congratulations on such a beautiful blog! 🙂 hugs, twiggs
Sukaina says
Hi there.....Just wanted to say what a beautiful blog you have. Such stunning pictures. I hate hate hate tea but you make it look divine.
Can I ask how you acieved the lighting on the first tea shot? It looks like back lighting but how close are you to the window? Sorry, might sound a little silly but I'm very new to this. Ive tried using backlighting but end up with an image looking like a silhouette. Yours looks amazing!!!!!!!
Oh and may I ask what lens you used??
Sylvie says
Thanks Sukaina, that's so sweet of you to say.
Youre correct the lighting here is indeed diffused back lighting from a large window. I placed the cup on a table a few feet away from the window at a slight angle. I used my 100mm Macro Lens.