Peppermint Tea: What It Is & Steps to Make It Properly

Name: Peppermint Tea
Prep time: 2 min
Total time: 7 min
Ingredients: 1 cup water (+ more to warm teapot); 2 teaspoons peppermint tea ((or 1 tea sachet or tea bag))

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Peppermint leaves can be used to make an herbal tea by brewing it in water and it can be made hot or iced. See how easy it is to make this tea perfectly at home with tips from a Tea Sommelier.

CONTENTS

What is Peppermint Tea?

Peppermint tea is an herbal tea (also called an infusion or tisane) made by steeping peppermint leaves in water. It’s caffeine-free.
Peppermint is the most popular mint and it’s grown everywhere around the world, but it originated in Europe and Asia.
Peppermint is a mix of two plants in the mint family: watermint and spearmint.
Naturally contains a lot of menthol so it’s cooling and energizing.

See how to make more herbal teas like chamomile, rose, lavender, barley, and hibiscus.

Ingredient Notes

Peppermint tea
Loose tea and tea sachets contain better quality tea than tea bags.
Water
Instead of using tap water, go for filtered water. The better the water tastes, the better the tea tastes.

My Electric Kettle Pick

Photo Credit: Harney.com

A must have for all tea drinkers! Set the water temperature to brew tea properly each and every time.

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Steps to Make Hot Peppermint Tea

Four photo collage showing steps on how to make peppermint tea properly.

For full ingredients and instructions, scroll down to see the recipe.

Boil water.
I like to boil water using an electric kettle with a temperature setting. I set the water to 208°F, which is a bit under a full boil. Boil extra water to warm the teapot.
Warm up teapot.
Pour some of the freshly boiled hot water into a teapot and swirl the water around. Throw out the water. Warming up the teapot keeps the boiled water hot so that there isn’t a big temperature drop when steeping the tea.
Put peppermint tea into the teapot and add hot water. Cover teapot and steep.
Strain peppermint leaves and pour hot tea into a teacup.

Tea Sommelier’s Tip: Because herbal teas don’t usually contain caffeine, you can steep it for longer without worrying about it getting bitter.

Steps to Make Iced Peppermint Tea

The best iced tea is cold brewed iced tea! It tastes so good and way better than iced tea made any other way.

Two photos showing steps to make cold brewed peppermint tea.

Put peppermint tea and water in a pitcher or glass container. Cover and place in refrigerator to cold brew.
Use cool or room temperature filtered water.
Strain peppermint tea leaves and pour tea into a cup.
Ice is optional when it comes to cold brewed tea since it’s already chilled.

Expert Tips

To sweeten your peppermint iced tea, use plain simple syrup or flavored simple syrup since it’s the easiest to mix into your cold tea since it’s a liquid.
Using loose tea means you can easily adjust the amount of tea used, so you can make it stronger or weaker.
Peppermint tea is pretty forgiving when it comes to steep time. You can steep it longer than 5 minutes and it’ll still taste great and won’t get overly bitter.
Cold brewed peppermint tea can be steeped for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator since it won’t get bitter like black or green tea.
Peppermint tea can be brewed and stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Keep it covered or airtight glass container or pitcher.
Loose peppermint tea and tea sachets should be stored in an airtight container away from light, odors, humidity, and heat.

Questions You May Have

What does peppermint tea taste like?

Menthol in peppermint makes the tea taste minty and mildly sweet, leaving a cooling sensation in the mouth. It’s light and refreshing.

Does it contain caffeine?

There’s absolutely no caffeine in peppermint tea.

Is peppermint tea a real tea?

No, peppermint isn’t a real tea, it’s an herbal tea. For a tea to be a real or pure tea, it has to come from the camellia sinensis plant, like black or green tea. The peppermint tea comes from the mint plant, not camellia sinensis.

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Peppermint Tea

Author: Jee Choe

How to make peppermint tea properly, hot and iced.

4.8 from 8 votes

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Prep Time 2 mins

Steep Time 5 mins

Total Time 7 mins

Course Drinks

Yield serving

INGREDIENTS

▢ 1 cup water + more to warm teapot
▢ 2 teaspoons peppermint tea (or 1 tea sachet or tea bag)

INSTRUCTIONS

Boil water.
If using an electric kettle with temperature setting, set it to 208°F. Boil a little more water than needed so that it can be used to warm up the teapot. Filtered water is best.
Warm up teapot.
Pour hot water into a teapot halfway and swirl it around a bit. Discard the water. Warming up the teapot is an extra step that all tea professionals take the time to do, so that when the tea steeps, the water temperature won't drop drastically.
Put peppermint tea into the teapot and add hot water. Cover teapot and steep for 5 minutes.
Strain peppermint leaves and pour hot tea into a teacup.

EQUIPMENT

Electric Kettle

Teapot

Water Filter

NOTES

How to Make Cold Brew Peppermint Iced Tea

Put peppermint tea and cool or room temperature water in a pitcher or glass container. Cover pitcher and put in refrigerator for at least 12 hours.
Stir to make sure peppermint get dampened by the water and isn’t sitting dry on top of the water surface. Use filtered water for a better tasting iced tea.
Strain peppermint leaves and pour tea into a cup.
Ice is optional since the tea is already chilled.

Brewing Guide

Hot Peppermint Tea

TEA: 2 teaspoons loose peppermint tea or 1 tea sachet
WATER: 1 cup (8 fl. oz.)
WATER TEMPERATURE: 208°F
STEEP TIME: 5 minutes

Cold Brew Peppermint Iced Tea

TEA: 2 teaspoons loose peppermint tea or 1 tea sachet
WATER: 1 cup (8 fl. oz.)
WATER TEMPERATURE: Cold water
STEEP TIME: 12 hours

Tips

To sweeten your peppermint iced tea, use plain simple syrup or flavored simple syrup since it’s the easiest to mix into your cold tea since it’s a liquid.
Using loose tea means you can easily adjust the amount of tea used, so you can make it stronger or weaker.
Peppermint tea is pretty forgiving when it comes to steep time. You can steep it longer than 5 minutes and it’ll still taste great and won’t get overly bitter.
Cold brewed peppermint tea can be steeped for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator since it won’t get bitter like black or green tea.
Peppermint tea can be brewed and stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Keep it covered or airtight glass container or pitcher.
Loose peppermint tea and tea sachets should be stored in an airtight container away from light, odors, humidity, and heat.

NUTRITION

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