The Curiously Strong Story of Mint

Gastropod

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

Science, Food, History, Arts

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 3 December 2024

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What’s the coolest flavor of the holiday season? It's peppermint, obviously, and it’s showing up in everything from coffee to chocolate and cookies to ice cream right now. But while standing in line for a peppermint mocha is a standard feature of the holiday season today, there was a time when this garden-standard herb was seen as so special—even powerful—that it made three American entrepreneurs rich enough to be crowned the "Peppermint Kings." This episode, the story of the forgotten American mint monarchy, plus the fascinating science behind why mint cools your tongue and maybe really does cure all. Join us to jingle all the way through peppermint heists, the surprising link between mint essence-peddlers and the abolition movement, and the true stories behind your favorite mint candies—including the disputed origins of the iconic candy cane. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's coming up to Christmas and see it's not wrong. That means peppermint. There aren't that many seasonal flavors that I particularly look forward to. I'm not a fan of pumpkin spice, but I do
0:21.4	truly love peppermint, and I'm clearly not the only one. A little thing I love about the
0:26.8	Chick-fil-A pepperment chip milkshake is that first sip when you taste the peppermint chip pieces. It's like
0:32.7	catching snowflakes on your tongue. The holidays are here at Starbucks. Celebrate with a peppermint mocha.
0:38.3	Girideli peppermint bark squares makes the holidays a bite better.
0:42.8	Yep, everything is peppermint right now.
0:45.5	So to help you embrace the season of red and white striped coolness, this episode we're
0:50.9	also all about mint.
0:52.8	We, of course, are gastropod, the podcast that looks at food through the lens of science and history. I'm Nicola Twilly. And I'm Cynthia Graber. And this episode, candy canes are peppermint flavored. But I know that's not the only kind of mint you can find at the garden store. How did peppermint win out to become the candy mint? And why does it make your whole mouth cold in such a seasonally
1:12.0	appropriate way? Just like catching a snowflake on your tongue. What's going on there?
1:16.9	This episode, we're telling the story of how mint came to take over, not just your garden patch.
1:21.3	Anyone who's grown it knows what I'm talking about, but also how it rose to become one of the
1:25.7	foundational flavors in the candy aisle.
1:27.8	It's not just candy canes, York peppermint, patty's, junior mince, tick-tacks.
1:31.4	The list goes on and on.
1:32.7	There's another seasonal tradition we need to talk about first, though, and that is our end-of-year appeal.
1:39.7	Gastropod is me, Cynthia, and our producer, Claudia.
1:42.8	We are the tiny but mighty team that brings you every
1:46.1	single episode, and we can't do it without your help. You've heard us talk about foundation support
1:51.2	for the show, and you also obviously have heard ads on the show, too. But the truth is that
1:55.9	neither of these alone are enough to keep gastropod going day to day. We say this frequently,
2:00.8	but it really is true.
	...

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