Freshly Harvested Homemade Mint & Chocolate Mint Simple Syrup

Hey there! This post is by request -- I didn't think it would be of interest, since it's so simple (no pun intended, haha, who am I kidding, of course it was intended lol). Anyways, every year I harvest and process my family's mint. This summer, their garden was overflowing! I made mint pesto, mint ice cubes, mint tea, and of course, mint simple syrup.

Pictured: Chocolate mint (to the bottom and left, regular mint on the top right). They're similar, but not the same!

This was the first year I even thought to make a simple syrup out of it, but it's been my favorite and it's now on my list of things to keep making in the future (it's just a mental list, so actually I may forget. Good thing I'm documenting it here!).

Mint and Chocolate mint are the two varieties, so when I was harvesting this year, I kept them separate. Usually I just mix the bunches since they all grow in together, but since they have such a distinct taste, I'm glad I made that executive decision! Okay, here we go...

Freshly Harvested Mint Simple Syrup:

1. In a small pot, place 3 cups water and approximately 2 cups fresh mint leaves (picked off the stalk and cleaned).

2. Bring to a boil.

3. Then, reduce down and simmer for 15-30 minutes (I do this until I see the color coming out of the leaves and the water turns green).

4. Next, I strain out the leaves and add approximately 1 cup sugar. I use this panela sugar (which makes the syrup more of a brown color, naturally).

5. I continue to reduce by about half, then I use a funnel to carefully pour into a jar and cool.
   

That's it!

You'll follow the same steps for the mint and chocolate mint versions (to confirm, there is no chocolate in the chocolate mint syrup, it's just the type of mint!).

My hubby loves drizzling a spoon full into his cold brew coffee and I am looking forward to making a mint ice cream with it!

Check out the video I made on my process here. As always, #GetSatiated.