On a recent foray to the backyard, I looked upon my mint and thought, “Behold! I could actually use this stuff for more than garnish!” And so I dried it. As previously promised, here is my report on drying mint.
Inspiration
I love the smell of fresh mint, and I have a small, contained patch of it next to the back steps. It gives up its scent as I brush past it, but it never occurred to me to do more than snip bits here and there to garnish fruit plates or flavor iced tea every now and then. All the discussion of food preservation, however, prompted me to look at that mint’s preservation potential. Hadn’t I paid $4 or more for not very much organic mint tea?
So I read up a little on drying mint, which means I read a lot of conflicting information. No matter, I figured. Usually, my mint simply went to seed, and I therefore had nothing to lose anyway, except a little time.
Harvest
There does seem to be consensus that the best time to cut herbs for drying is in the morning and just before they’re about to flower. My mint wasn’t quite at the flowering stage, but close enough. Using small garden pruners, I cut the mint to about a foot high and accumulated two big piles.
Wash and spin
I washed the mint reasonably thoroughly, I thought, then ran batches through the salad spinner. I laid them on towels on the kitchen counter to dry for a couple of hours. Wow, did the house smell great!
Bundle up
I gathered small bunches of mint stems into bundles which I tied with string. I thought I was exceedingly clever in fashioning slip knots every foot or so along a running piece of cotton string and inserting a bundle into each loop.
I then carried my bundled and tied mint to the only warm, dark, well-ventilated place I could think of—the bedroom. It has room-darkening shades, although its ventilation is a little wanting. (The basement is pretty dark, but nothing gets dry there.)
Hang to dry
After a couple of false starts, I got the mint stringers suspended from picture hanger to hinge to picture hanger and directed the oscillating fan in their direction. I thought it best to keep air moving until all the water from washing had dried. (In retrospect, I think the fan was unnecessary, but all the instructions I read cautioned that herbs would mold if there wasn’t enough air. I should have known it wasn’t a big deal, though, considering one such instruction called 68 degrees F (20 degrees C) “warm.” That may be warm for winter, but it’s practically frigid in these parts in the summertime.)
(It’s dark in there when I close the shades, which I did. Please note the ironing board. It doesn’t get much use, but I do own one.)
Wait
I waited. The mint withered and eventually became dry.
Second harvest
Eight days after I cut the mint, I took down the mint lines and stripped the leaves from the stems onto a clean kitchen towel.
Tip: Hold the tip of the stalk in one hand, and run your other hand down the stalk. The leaves will fall right off. If you go the other direction, trying to strip from the bottom up, you mostly flatten leaves. Whichever way you go, you’ll still have to pull the top leaves off one or two at a time.
Packing it in
The published advice encourages storing the leaves whole for greater retention of the oils that give the mint its flavor. Hence, I filled two quart mason jars and another jar I had on hand (capacity about 3 cups) with leaves, having the best luck by using a large cooking spoon for the transfer. I attached lids, and stuck the jars in a dark cabinet to wait until 68 degrees sounds warm to me. At that time, I intend to delight in brewing my own, organic free mint tea. (If you’re using this post as directions, you might want to check your jars for steam or any similar sign of moisture after the jars are closed an hour or two. I didn’t, because those leaves were crisp.)
Third harvest?
I have every reason to believe I’ll be able to cut and dry mint again before the season is over. I figure I’ve already dried enough to last me through the winter and then some. That gives me time to figure out whether any of my friends or family would be delighted with a gift of mint tea. You’ve been warned.
Your mint looks pretty hanging in your bedroom–bet it smelled great. I think you might have inspired me to dry some mint also. Wonder if I can use it in December mojitos?
It did smell great! I say go for it. I’ll bet dried-mint mojitos taste lovely, even if not quite as pretty as their fresh-mint siblings.
There’s something wonderful about hanging herbs to dry. It isn’t only the immediacy of the experience or the anticipation of enjoying the dried herbs. It provides continuity. Herbs have been hung so for generations, in many eras and countries. All going well, herbs will be hung so for generations to come.
Thank you for both the instructions and the images.
And thank you Steve and Seanan!
I love drying herbs! You’ve got a lot there–enough for tabbuleh, fatoush, and flavoring stuffed grape leaves right along with your mint tea and mojitos. Enjoy!
(I hear more scientists are off today to do field research and pick blackberries. I am overrun with blackberries!)
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[...] finally got around to those apples, and my second adventure in food preservation for the year. (The dried mint was the first.) Seeing as I prefer to do things the hard way, I decided to turn some of the apples [...]
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We received a large bag of mint from a friend and although I put it in the fridge right away, I do know I need to get it hung. Is it ok in the refridgerator for a day or two?
I am sure it will lose some of it’s potency, but with 4 kids, I rarely have time to get to things like this until the weekend.
I loved all your information on mint by the way! Fantastic site!
Kari Bell
Hi, Kari. Thanks for stopping by. Although I’m sure you’re right about the mint losing a little potency, I would think your mint would be fine to dry after a day or two. Sticking it in a glass of water till you can hang it also might work well, but mint tolerates cool temps very well, so the refrigerator treatment shouldn’t hurt it. Let me know how it turns out!
I live in Tucson Az, and have mint,basil,and rosemary growing in my backyard, I want to dry mint and basil. Wasn’t sure best time of day to harvest, it’s very hot here, does it matter when I cut?
Hi, Sheri. I hear that it’s best to do it in the morning as soon as the dew is dry, but I’ve learned the plants are more forgiving than humans! In fact, in Tucson, you could probably just spread the cuttings out on a sheet and never mind about hanging them. They’ll dry in a few days.
I’m going to try this! Thanks for the great tutorial. :)Kyndale
Let me know how it turns out, Kyndale! And btw, I’ve since learned that it’s entirely possible to do it without such a big production. If you have a smaller quantity, you can just spread the cuttings out on a clean sheet or towel in an airy place until it’s good and dry.
I will try this way of drying mint. I tryed a drying method in the oven that did not work.
After spending 4 hour removing all the leave and placing them in single layers and baking them for 12 hours they still are not dry
Good luck, Mary. Patience, air and warm temps are all it takes–although low humidity certainly helps.
So you never said how the tea turned out. I’m in the process of drying my own mint and just found your site/post. I haven’t tried the tea yet and I’m just a bit nervous, because my attempts at chamomile tea were HORRENDOUS! Bitter. yech. Still not sure why that was the case and am curious if you tried yours and how it was.
Hi, Jennie. Thanks for stopping by. Haven’t tried chamomile, but my mint tea tasted like…mint tea. It was fine, and I used up all that I saved for me. Could bitterness be a matter of harvest time? Supposedly the ideal time is just before flowering. In any case, good luck if you give it another try!