Mint Oil and Floral Water Extraction
When summer reaches its zenith and the mint is just about to bloom, it's the perfect time to harvest for distillation. In our homestead, we have a sizeable cauldron-like pot that we often use for boiling large quantities of fruit, especially for elderberry juice. This giant pot also plays the starring role in our DIY distillation setup.
'Distillation' might sound like a big word for what we do. We simply extract the beautiful essence of the plant, transforming it into mint oil and floral water. The process is basic in theory: we capture the vaporized oils carried by the steam during boiling and then cool it down to collect the condensed essence.
To achieve this, we modified the pot's lid by drilling a hole to attach a small pipe, guiding the steam into a homemade condenser. Our condenser is an ingeniously improvised patent glass filled with an outer layer of icy water and an inner layer of a steel bottle, partly filled with water. This system effectively cools the steam, which then condenses into water that's rich in mint oil and floral essence.
If we were handling alcohol, this simple setup might not be up to the task. But for directing the steam? It works like a charm. We only need to hold the lid tight enough manually to make sure that the steam has no place else to go but through the pipe.
The result of this extraction process is delightfully used in our candy-making ventures. We grind sugar into a fine powder and then incorporate the mint oil and floral water until we achieve a thick doughy consistency. The dough is then shaped into balls, small mounds, or patties, and left to dry. If you fancy a classic peppermint patty, simply enrobe these mint candies in tempered chocolate. Divine!
Among our mint varieties, we have quite the collection: bog mint, English mint, peppermint, chocolate mint, and many more. However, the star of our herb garden is a variety of peppermint known as 'Curly Mint' or 'Krusmynta'. This particular strain has a vibrant aroma and unique curly leaves, contributing to its catchy name. And we believe the flavor to be similar to the iconic spearmint!
