Put The Kettle On-This Is Really Good! (Summerdown Pure Mint Tea)

Member Name: Machair1

Product:	Summerdown Pure Mint Tea
Date:	22/04/09 (76 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tastes so fresh and summery.

Disadvantages: Expensive compared to other mint teas.

When I was visiting one of my daughters in Glasgow recently we happened to spend a fair amount of time mooching round the fantastic Lakeland Store there. I spotted some special offers, and one of them was for some peppermint tea bags in a rather attractive summer green package. I was buying some other things, and was really rather taken over by a spurtle, which I had actually gone to buy, and have since reviewed on Dooyoo. This porridge making stirrer has pride of place in my kitchen now, but I did wonder what the mint tea was like as I gave it to my daughter, who loves nothing better than an herb tea. She reported to me that it was lovely, and so when I noticed it on the Waitrose website I decided to buy some to try it out. Priced at £1.99 for 25 enveloped bags I thought this was good value for what is at the luxury end of the market. It works out at about 8p a cup. The package is so beautiful I have to mention it as it has some sides which are a mint green, and some which are floral- just photos of mint as it grows on a summer's day.

The tea is quintessentially British, and the company who grow it have set themselves a mission -to restore English mint to its full glory using a variety called Black Mitchum.They explain that at the start of the 20th century England was famous for producing quality mint, in fact the French really value it even today, calling it "menthe Anglaise" or English mint! Due to commercial pressures to grow other crops farmers in England stopped growing it commercially, and now most of the mint grown in the world actually comes from the United States, and from cheap imports from China and India, but this tea is made from purely British mint, and my goodness you can really tell -it's absolutely superb!

Grown on a farm in the foothills of the Hampshire Downs this is now a well established business, but it was difficult initially for them to perfect growing methods and to adapt the growing techniques to the British climate once again. It did involve a steep learning curve, and they had to consult the Americans for advice.

After harvesting the plants are taken to a distillery where single estate peppermint oil is produced, and this is coveted by aromatherapists as well as of course being the main ingredient of this tea.

To make this tea is really simple all you do is to pop a bag into a mug or two if you are using a teapot. You then pour over boiling water and leave to infuse for a few minutes according to taste. The smell is absolutely gorgeous like no other mint tea I have ever tried, it is really strong but the scent is fresh and clean. The drink is just so refreshing and it perks you up if you are feeling tired, not because it has any stimulating properties, but just because it is so pure and summery.

If you have any kind of tummy troubles, especially irritable bowel, this helps enormously. It calms the stomach and sooths the intestinal tract, and will dispel painful trapped wind. I do suffer with IBS having had it since developing ME, and this tea in particular seems to be very therapeutic for the symptoms, more so than other mint teas I have tried.

It is also free from caffeine so is brilliant for hydration levels. As good for you as a glass of plain water, which I don't personally find that appetising! However, you can chill this tea and serve it cold and this is really lovely on a summer day.

I have to also tell you that since discovering this tea I have not been drinking anywhere near as many other alternatives- it really is that good!
Just taking the lid and opening the box and popping your nose in is heaven, it is like the smell of fresh peppermint creams from a very expensive chocolatier! Oh and by the way they make those too, and you can find them in some farm shops, and they can be bought by mail order. I am off to order some now, I can only assume they are going to be just as wonderful as the tea.

www.summerdownmint.com.

This review is also posted on Ciao by myself under my user name there Violet1278

Summary: A British product which is out of this world!