![]() ![]() By contrast, spearmint is a lighter flavored mint and although the flavor is strong, it’s not nearly as overpowering as peppermint. If you use peppermint toothpaste, you’ll already have a frame of reference for the distinct taste and feel of fresh peppermint. It might even make your tongue numb or leave your mouth tingly. Peppermint has a bigger, bolder flavor that packs a big wallop of menthol. Spearmint and peppermint taste differentįinally, you can tell peppermint from spearmint by taste. If you’re going to sniff test both plants, be sure to give wash your hands in between and give your aroma receptors a few minutes to reset. If the mint smells of camphor, it’s peppermint. While all mints have a distinct aroma, peppermint smells much stronger and contains a stronger menthol note. If you’re still not confident in the identification, crush a leaf from one and sniff it. They’re especially helpful if you can see the entire plant, rather than just a sprig. So how can you tell if a mint is spearmint or peppermint?įirst, look for the visual queues just mentioned. But here again, growing conditions and the health of the plant can affect this. Peppermint is usually a deeper shade of green than spearmint. Spearmint leaves on the left, peppermint leaves on the right.Īnother big visual difference between mints is the color. Having said that, growing conditions and habit can affect the size and development of leaves, so it is possible to have a peppermint plant with larger leaves. By contrast, peppermint usually has smaller, rounder leaves, and the veins aren’t as deep set. Spearmint leaves are typically longer and more pointed than peppermint leaves. But peppermint’s stem is a very saturated shade of purple, and is more squared off. Now, other strains of mint can have purplish tints and most mint stems are a bit on the blocky side. The first step towards understanding the differences between mint plants and how to use them is being able to reliably identify them! Peppermint has distinctly purple stems that are very square. How to identify mint plantsĪll mints have visual similarities, of course, but here are a few ways to tell peppermint from spearmint. ![]() So someone might wonder about the difference between peppermint and mint but what they’re really asking is how peppermint and spearmint are different. Odds are good if someone says ‘mint’ they’re referring to one of those. Telling the difference between spearmint and peppermintįirst, many people refer to ‘mint’ without realizing there are many types of mint, though peppermint and spearmint are the most common varieties. ![]()
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