November 1, 2006
New Markets for Mint
Back in 1976, I was a relatively new employee at Celestial Seasonings. The company had been making herb teas for six years, and Americans were eating them up (well, drinking them up)! Herb teas had been around for centuries in Europe, but they were mostly used for medicinal purposes, and Celestial Seasonings wanted to focus on using natural ingredients to make the best tasting teas possible.
At that time, Egypt was the main source of peppermint for European tea companies. Peppermint was also grown in Oregon and Washington, but those plants were immediately pressed for their rich oils, which were sold to confectionery companies. As Celestial Seasonings grew, so did our need for peppermint, and Egypt seemed like a long way to go when peppermint plants abounded just a few states away. I began negotiations with the peppermint farmers in the Pacific Northwest and convinced them to set aside some of the plants for use in herb teas. It turns out that these peppermint plants have some of the highest oil content in the world (the oil is where the mint flavor is concentrated), making them ideal for our high quality teas.
The farmers in the Pacific Northwest began selling us more and more dried plants, and after a drought ruined mint crops in Egypt, European herb tea companies began making mint purchases in the United States, as well. Peppermint is big business now in the Northwest, and I’m proud that we helped develop an international market for American dried mint.
The Charisma of Chamomile
The soothing qualities of chamomile make it a traditional favorite in herb teas, but you can’t overlook its luscious golden tone and delicate flavor. The sweet apple notes of chamomile in our teas are achieved by blending just the right amount of chamomile from different parts of the world, like Egypt, Mexico and Argentina.
We also use different parts of the plant to keep the flavor of our chamomile teas consistent—sometimes we use the whole flower, including the pollen, petals and stem, and sometimes we only use the pollen. Seeds in the pollen give a bitter taste to chamomile, so the pollen has to be sifted by hand to remove the seeds.
I’ve been working with the same family of chamomile farmers in Egypt for 25 years now—first with the father, and now with his son. Their village surrounds a vast chamomile field and everyone chips in to help harvest the crop. The villagers pick the chamomile by hand, and the plants are dried and sifted on large wooden racks before they’re packaged and sent to us in the United States. It’s a long journey, but the quality of Egyptian chamomile is worth it!
