Spearmint and peppermint, how do they work?

November 9, 2014 4:45 AM

Taste-wise, what's the difference between spearmint and peppermint? Especially when used as a flavour for things like chewing gum and candy.

I never know which to get, and I'm too frugal to buy both and try it out, for fear that I'll dislike one or the other and have to throw it away.
Can you help? What is the difference in flavour characteristics?

posted by Too-Ticky to Food & Drink (27 answers total)

So Wikipedia informs me that peppermint (the plant) is actually a cross between water mint and spearmint, and that it is spearmint that occurs naturally in Europe and Asia. I had no idea.

In culinary terms (and ymmv), spearmint is great in some recipes with meat (I always chuck it into my "greek"-style meatballs), whereas peppermint just tastes too strong and minty for that type of application. And that gives you your chewing gum answer too: spearmint has a milder, more leaf-green-like but less minty taste, whereas peppermint has a stronger minty profile.

I'm sure the difference is small enough to warrant a test, btw., you won't end up having to chuck one of the kinds...
posted by Namlit at 4:57 AM on November 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Peppermint really is almost peppery. I like chewing mint gum when I'm tired at work, peps me up, and generally, I like peppermint. Spearmint gum tends to taste too sweet for me, but occasionally, that extra sugariness is a good thing. Offhand, I'd say if you have a sweet tooth and want mint gum, go for spearmint. If you're not into sweets and want that minty fresh feeling, go for peppermint.
posted by ihavequestions at 5:18 AM on November 9, 2014 [4 favorites]

You know those hard white striped mint candies they put in bowls at reception desks and restaurant hostess stands? Red striped is peppermint and green striped is spearmint. Candy canes are generally peppermint.

It's all about the intensity of the mint. Peppermint is a very minty mint and is too much for me, I don't really like it that much. It's so minty it almost tastes hot. Spearmint is much milder. It's sweeter and makes your mouth feel just a little bit cool and refreshed.

If you really want to get crazy, maybe mix it up with wintergreen (usually the blue to the red of peppermint and the green of spearmint). Wintergreen is a more intense cold mint. I like wintergreen for a very minty mint without the hot-minty effect of peppermint.

(Wintergreen also does cool things. You can chew wintergreen lifesavers and they'll spark. You can use oil of wintergreen to turn newsprint into a temporary tattoo.)

I think a good way to decide what you like is: do you like toothpaste? I kind of hate about 90% of toothpaste flavors because the mint is a hotter, pepperminty kind of mint and it makes my mouth hurt. But plenty of people love that taste. If you like the way that toothpaste makes your mouth feel, you'll probably like peppermint. If you hate it, spearmint is probably more your thing. Can't decide? Maybe you're team wintergreen.
posted by phunniemee at 5:30 AM on November 9, 2014 [7 favorites]

Response by poster: You know those hard white striped mint candies they put in bowls at reception desks and restaurant hostess stands?

No. They're not a thing here. Neither is wintergreen, or Lifesavers.
posted by Too-Ticky at 6:01 AM on November 9, 2014

Best answer: Artificial spearmint flavor for gum is milder than peppermint but has an additional flavor note I dislike. For gum or candy I only buy peppermint - it's intense but feels like a purer mint. Spearmint flavor does have a pleasant cooling effect as was noted above, though.
posted by fingersandtoes at 6:08 AM on November 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

Frugality hits stingey at about the 70 eurocent mark. Buy two packs of gum, offer others the one you didn't like if needed. Spearmint is like mint tea generally, peppermint is like toothpaste or breathmints, again generally.
posted by Iteki at 6:10 AM on November 9, 2014 [6 favorites]

As a child at summer camp here in the northeastern U.S., there was a camp director who was able to identify spearmint in the forest, and it evidently isn't even native to North America according to Wikipedia. So cost-wise, perhaps an herbal medicine type or a botanist or other outdoorsy type could help you find some for free. To my recollection, it was quite amazing how much the taste was like that of wintergreen chewing gum, simply chewing on the raw leaves.
posted by XMLicious at 6:11 AM on November 9, 2014

I've never understood why, but peppermint goes well with chocolate and spearmint does not.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:35 AM on November 9, 2014 [6 favorites]

Best answer: Okay, this is a weird way of describing it, but maybe it will help.

Remember when Willy Wonka was explaining that the grass in his chocolate factory was made of a kind of soft minty sugar he called "swudge"? Although it's never directly stated, I am convinced that "swudge" is a name for a spearmint product, not a peppermint product.

Both peppermint and spearmint definitely have a green flavour, but peppermint tastes very dark green and spearmint tastes like a light, bright green.
posted by tel3path at 7:00 AM on November 9, 2014 [4 favorites]

I can never remember (or maybe I can't even decide) whether I prefer peppermint or spearmint. The other day I thought I needed gum, so I bought a packet of spearmint and put it in my bag. Later that day, I was rummaging around for it and found another packet of the same brand of gum, only peppermint flavour!
posted by kinddieserzeit at 7:08 AM on November 9, 2014

My initial reaction is "it's gum, if you can afford a pack you can afford two," and "they're not so different that you're likely to only like one."

Peppermint is stronger and more breath-freshener-y, while spearmint is slightly more sweet and plantlike. I buy both flavors of gum, but more often than not I choose peppermint, because I like gum to give me a super-minty-clean feeling.

(Wintergreen tastes oddly artificial to me, like some sort of cheap mint knockoff they invented in the fifties. I've chewed on whatever plant it is that tastes exactly like wintergreen, and it still tastes artificial.)
posted by Metroid Baby at 7:13 AM on November 9, 2014 [3 favorites]

Taste-wise, what's the difference between spearmint and peppermint?

Can you explain the difference between the taste of lemon and lime? Peppermint and spearmint are two different plants and while they share a similar mint taste (much like citrus fruit share a citrus taste - mentha and citrus are both genera of plants), they do taste different. Ultimately, you will need to taste both plants to see. You can be "frugal" and taste a leaf from each plant in a store that sells live herbs, such as a nursery or upscale grocery store.
posted by Tanizaki at 7:30 AM on November 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

I always assumed they called it "spearmint" because the taste was so strong it was like a spear in your mouth. Spearmint toothpaste seems stronger than peppermint to me, so I've always avoided it. Maybe they just put too much in the toothpaste I tried.

Sounds like you are probably a little mint averse or this wouldn't be a question. Like you just want a gum or Tic-Tac for fresh breath. Cinnamon flavors can help.
posted by serena15221 at 7:49 AM on November 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

Peppermint has almost a "sharper" and more intense flavor. Spearmint is a bit milder.

If you're not really a big fan of mint, and have to choose between the two, go for spearmint.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:01 AM on November 9, 2014

Best answer: Spearmint isn't a flavor that everyone enjoys. It's also much less common in candies in Europe than peppermint. So if you think about the flavor of mint candy, you're thinking of peppermint.

Chemically, it's because peppermint contains much, much more of the volatile menthol and menthone compounds, whereas spearmint contains lots of carvone and limonene (common in citrus). Menthol has a 'sharp' flavor to it, whereas the terpenes in spearmint do not.

I avoid baking and cooking with spearmint unless it is explicitly required, and as other commenters have noted, I never use it with chocolate. I will use it with acidic, especially citrusy dishes though.
posted by yellowcandy at 9:36 AM on November 9, 2014 [4 favorites]

To me, spearmint is way too cloying and gross. I only like peppermint. I also tend to like, sharp, bitter flavors in other foods.
posted by stoneandstar at 10:43 AM on November 9, 2014

Wikipedia says that the 'spear' in 'spearmint' comes from the shape of the leaves.
posted by benito.strauss at 10:51 AM on November 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

Based on your profile, most of the mint sweets that you'll find on the shelves will be peppermint. Spearmint is its weird sweet greenish-tasting cousin.
posted by holgate at 11:21 AM on November 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

Have you had tabouleh at a Mediterranean restaurant? Or a lamb dish that's served with mint? That's spearmint.
posted by CathyG at 2:29 PM on November 9, 2014

Pretty sure most mint sauces are made with peppermint, CathyG, and so is tabbouleh in my experience. If only because peppermint tends to grow in the garden without being asked and is just there for the taking.
posted by tel3path at 4:31 PM on November 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

BUT now that I think of it every time I have bought mint in a supermarket it has been spearmint.

Huh.
posted by tel3path at 4:44 PM on November 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

My experience has been that spearmint the herb is more common (readily available in both grocery and garden stores) and what most people mean when they say "mint." Peppermint is more common in candies and other products. I know that in aromatherapy principles peppermint is stronger and more volatile.
posted by purpletangerine at 6:30 PM on November 9, 2014

Meant to add: when we moved to our house I found spearmint growing in a large area. I made mint chocolate chip ice cream, and was completely shocked that the flavor was "wrong". Turns out I was expecting a pepperminty taste and much prefer that in sweets. But I love to put a sprig of the spearmint in my water or tea.
posted by purpletangerine at 6:34 PM on November 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

The mint we used to find at summer camp in North America was wintergreen.
posted by persona au gratin at 3:06 AM on November 10, 2014

Yeah, I think you're right—now that I've looked through more of the species of wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens looks the most like the plant I remember from summer camp in the northeast.
posted by XMLicious at 4:34 AM on November 10, 2014

Best answer: To me, spearmint tastes sweeter than peppermint. Medicine like Pepto Bismol (pink colored stuff used for nausea and indigestion) is usually a spearmint flavor. Peppermint is closer to a menthol flavor, although not nearly as strong or medicinal.
posted by soelo at 8:09 AM on November 10, 2014

Response by poster: Thank you all! I'll now forever know which is which.
posted by Too-Ticky at 3:46 AM on November 11, 2014