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So, I recently bought some Spearmint plants, and the yield has been pretty nice. However, I've hit a bit of a snag. I've tried a few different Drying and Brewing methods, from Oven drying to Air drying, from loose leaf in a kettle to in a coffee maker (both Fresh and dried), and it seems that I just can not seem to get a good flavor out of them. Ya, I know Spearmint has very little Menthol (if any, depending on the variety). Normally it has that spearminty leafy green flavor, but no matter what I do, I can't seem to get rid of this Musky flavor and smell. I'm working with Smooth-leaf Spearmint atm.

Anyone know what I might be doing wrong?

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    I wonder if you might get better answers at gardening.stackexchange.com. This question kind of straddles the line.
    – Jolenealaska ♦
    Commented Jul 19, 2015 at 18:01
  • @Jolenealaska It's squarely off-topic on Gardening & Landscaping since it isn't asking about growing or harvesting the mint; it's asking about how to prepare or preserve it. Please see our help center for more information.
    – Niall C.
    Commented Jul 19, 2015 at 20:54
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    @NiallC. : of course, it's possible the mustiness is a problem w/ the growing. And even if it's not as noticeable when fresh, it might have been masked until it was dried.
    – Joe
    Commented Jul 20, 2015 at 0:32
  • Never noticed musky flavor in my Spearmint plants. I tie stems together, and dry in a cool basement. Perhaps a different cultivar is all you need to solve your problem. While you are at it, buy some Orange-mint too. Dried, it makes a very tasty tea.
    – Wayfaring Stranger
    Commented Aug 20, 2019 at 23:01

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When processing leaves into tea, there are three important steps:

  • Withering: this happens in the shadow or in the sun depending on what tea you want to make. In your case, I think sun-drying is proper. The goal is to allow the leaves to dry and soften a bit.
  • Rolling: after withering, you can roll the leaves, to squeesh the flavor from the inside to the surface.
  • Fixing: after rolling, you need to intensively dry the tea, for example in the oven. This is important to stop the oxidation process and reach a water content level below 5% (otherwise mould will develop later).

So if your tea tastes off, you have to check which step wasn't properly done. Since your tea was musky, it might be that the last step of fixing, wasn't done properly.

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