We get our peppermint (Mentha Piperita) and spearmint (Mentha spicata) from a little farm in Hampshire.

Peppermint
For centuries peppermint has been a traditionally English ingredient. The best peppermint in the world used came from the famous Mitcham triangle in Surrey between the towns of Sutton, Kingston and Mitcham. Much of this mint had to be pulled up after World War II to grow cereal crops to feed people. Now our farmer is trying to reintroduce this lovely crop back to England’s countryside.

Because we use this very high quality peppermint, it means our gum has the refreshing taste and rounded floral notes of real peppermint instead of the harsh intensity of artificial flavourings.

Spearmint
If you have mint growing in your back garden, it’s almost certainly this stuff. The best thing in the world for making home made mint sauce – and not half bad for flavouring gum as well. It’s lovely and fresh but a bit more spicy and bitter than peppermint. We get ours from the same farm in Hampshire that we get our peppermint.

The process
It’s all very simple really. The mint is harvested every August. As soon as it’s cut from the field it goes into the barn where it’s distilled to make our mint oil. Once the distillation is complete the mulchy remnants of the leaves are taken back out to the field. They sit there quietly until the colder winter months arrive when this minty compost is spread out over the new crop to provide nutrients and act as a nice warm winter coat. If you’d like to see some photos of the mint farm, you can find them on our facebook page.