Only Fortnum's Mint Infusion

From countryside to cup, every leaf in our famous teas and infusions is carefully sourced.

Take our English Mint, for example. We sought out a plant with an old-fashioned aroma – like the mint last grown in England over a century ago – and discovered Black Mitcham Mint growing in the chalky soil of Hampshire. While it has a reputation of being slow to cultivate, we knew that this superbly aromatic herb would be very much worth the wait.

 

It takes around three to eight years for a crop of fresh mint to be perfectly primed and ready to pick – and makes its transformation into tea with minimal waste along the way. Grown at Malshanger Estate, the leaves are only picked if they are going to be dried and processed for tea or peppermint oil. Any excess material composts over two years and is then spread across the farmland to improve the soil. In this process there is no loss of waste material as the matter is broken down and – in turn – feeds the soil, one of the most natural forms of recycling.

 

Once picked, our mint leaves are distilled into oil and left to mellow for three years. But don’t put the kettle on just yet. Dried mint leaves are then steeped into this fragrant oil for a double burst of classic icy mint flavour, resulting in an infusion that’s positively Antarctic.

 

Brace yourselves for an extraordinary brew.