Peppermint tea is an excellent drink to keep you warm and support a healthy lifestyle. This tea can alleviate various conditions, such as headaches, sinusitis, stomach aches, and anxiety.
You can get peppermint tea in the form of dried leaves from any grocery store. It’s also available fresh or as an oil extract.
If you want to kick-start a healthy lifestyle or are looking for a warm drink to help your winter flu, look no further than peppermint tea.
This tea can have a disagreeable flavor at first. So, if you’re not a tea drinker, keep reading to learn how to make peppermint tea taste better. Let’s dive in!
How Do You Drink Peppermint Tea?
Peppermint tea is one of the most versatile drinks out there. You can enjoy it hot or cold, sweetened or unsweetened, fresh or dried.
All you have to do to make peppermint tea is bring some water to a boil, add the tea leaves, and let your tea steep for five minutes before enjoying it.
The best part is that peppermint tea is naturally caffeine-free, which means it’s the perfect nighttime drink. It also has a calming effect, helping reduce anxiety.
Other than the exceptional taste and the warm feeling of peppermint tea, it has the following benefits:
- Freshens breath
- Improves allergies
- Promotes weight loss
- Increases energy
- Eases digestive issues
What Does Peppermint Tea Taste Like?

If you’ve ever had peppermint candy, breath mints, or even brushed your teeth, you basically know what peppermint tea tastes like.
As the name suggests, peppermint tea has a peppery, spicy flavor with a hint of sweetness. Its aftertaste is menthol-like and fresh, though not as mint-like as gum and breath mints. This makes for an exceptional flavor when drunk hot.
Keep in mind that different factors will affect how the peppermint tea tastes. For starters, the quality and type of peppermint significantly contribute to the flavor. Fresh mint tastes brighter, while dried leaves have a slightly bitter flavor.
Then, you should be incredibly careful when preparing the tea, as the steeping time and water temperature will lead to different tastes.
If you let the tea steep longer, it’ll have a sharper flavor. That’s why you must remove the tea bags after five minutes or less if you prefer a smoother tea.
The water must be boiling to extract all the sweet flavors of the peppermint. If the water isn’t hot enough, you’ll only taste the bitterness of the peppermint.
How to Make Peppermint Tea Taste Better
While people often add peppermint to other teas to improve their taste, there are also numerous ways to refine the flavor of plain peppermint tea.
So, if you find peppermint tea too bitter, take a look at the following ways to enhance your tea:
1. Use Fresh Peppermint
If you’re not a fan of peppermint tea, you’re probably using peppermint tea bags from the store. Those have dried peppermint leaves, which have a concentrated, pungent taste.
On the other hand, fresh peppermint leaves have a sweet menthol aroma, which you can feel only from the smell. This means you won’t need to sweeten your tea, as the flavor is already smooth. You can even add fresh mint leaves to other teas in order to sweeten them!
Fresh peppermint is much easier to brew. All there is to it is adding hot water to the fresh leaves. Even if you steep for longer than five minutes, the flavor will be excellent every single time.
2. Squeeze Some Lemon

Lemon is an exceptional addition to any tea flavor, especially mint tea. Not only does it complement the rich menthol flavors, but it also emphasizes the benefits of peppermint.
Citrus contains a lot of vitamin C, which boosts your immune system, improves your mood, and provides energy.
After brewing the tea, squeeze some lemon on top. You can add as much lemon as you like.
Alternatively, you can add lemon slices to your tea and leave them steep. This will augment the zesty, fresh flavor of the peppermint and the lemons.
3. Fresh Ginger Slices

Ginger is another great choice to combine with your peppermint tea. If you completely dislike the mint flavor, ginger will provide an overpowering taste that’ll lift the mint.
In addition, ginger has a range of health benefits. It’s perfect for gut health, aiding in digestion and reducing nausea.
To get the best taste from the ginger, you’ll need to extract the oil. So, using powdered ginger is a no-go. Instead, you should opt for freshly grated ginger.
The ginger should steep for even longer than the peppermint leaves. Simply brew the ginger for about three minutes before adding the peppermint leaves and letting them steep for an extra five minutes. Then, your delicious, healthy tea will be ready!
4. Add Honey

Honey is one of the best ingredients to improve the taste of just about anything, including peppermint tea. Its sweet flavor upgrades and complements peppermint perfectly.
In fact, honey is the ideal buddy for peppermint tea if you’re getting over a cold! The sweet, rich honey has a soothing effect on sore throats, as well as boosts your immunity.
That said, hot water causes honey to lose its efficacy and benefits. That’s why you should add your honey when the tea gets warm enough. Let the peppermint tea cool for 10 minutes, and then sweeten it with honey.
5. Use Lavender

Another magnificent addition to peppermint tea is lavender. It is often used in conjunction with mint in aromatherapy. So, why not brew a tasty tea using the two herbaceous ingredients?
Smelling lavender can be greatly relaxing on its own. You’ll also get the same anti-anxiety effect by drinking lavender tea.
You can brew lavender the same way you’d brew peppermint. Dried lavender is simple to steep, but it has a powerful flavor. Accordingly, you’ll only need to use a little of it. A ratio of three parts peppermint and one part lavender works perfectly.
The mixture needs to steep for five minutes before enjoying. Since the flavor can be pretty aromatic and pungent, you can add a drop of honey to further enhance the taste.
6. Make It Iced
Typically, cold teas taste lighter than hot ones. Peppermint tea is no exception. If you want a milder, fresher flavor, then add some ice cubes.
This allows you to get all the benefits of peppermint tea without finding the taste unpleasant. It’s also a healthier alternative to cold sodas and sugar-loaded energy drinks.
After brewing and steeping the peppermint tea, remove the leaves and add a sweetener of your choice. From there, you’ll need to wait a couple of hours for the tea to cool in the fridge. Make sure you brew a large pitcher, as the entire family will probably love this zesty beverage!
If you want to make this drink even fresher, add a couple of dashes of lemon juice and garnish with fresh mint leaves.
7. Sweeten With Brown Sugar

Strong-tasting teas such as peppermint pair well with brown sugar. The taste of brown sugar is rich, and it requires a stronger tea to balance it out.
You don’t need to add a lot of brown sugar to sweeten peppermint tea. Half a teaspoon will work wonders. Yet, everybody has different taste buds, so you might find that adding less or more sugar would suit you better.
Additionally, combining brown sugar and honey will bring out a sweet and spicy flavor that’ll clear your sinuses and soothe your throat in seconds!
8. Add Chocolate

If you enjoy thin mints or mint chocolate chip ice cream, you’ll definitely love adding chocolate to your peppermint tea. In particular, this Chocolate Mint Tea Blend is mouthwatering.
Once you fall in love with the flavor, you can premix the ingredients and store them in a jar. This way, you’ll be able to make this tea whenever you want it.
To make the tasty chocolate mint tea, combine the peppermint leaves with Cacao nibs. These are healthy chocolate pieces that are crunchy and made from fermented cocoa beans. They add enough chocolate flavor and combine perfectly with your peppermint.
When you are ready to make your tea, you can add one tablespoon to eight ounces of boiling water and steep for five minutes.
If you want your drink to be sweeter, you can add brown sugar or a drizzle of honey. However, this beverage is tasty enough as it is.
8. Add Berries

Another flavor that works well with peppermint tea is fruit berries. You can go for strawberries, raspberries, or any other berries. The choices are endless!
Berries will offset the crisp taste of the peppermint while adding a sweet flavor. While you can enjoy this fruity herbal tea hot, it also makes for an appetizing summer drink.
Just add the sliced fruit after steeping a large pitcher of tea. Then, stick it in the fridge for a couple of hours. Serve it with ice for the whole family to enjoy.
10. Enhance With Other Flavors
There are unlimited choices when you want to improve the taste of peppermint tea. Peppermint is crisp and spicy while being a little sweet. Whichever flavor element you love, you can emphasize it by adding complementary flavors.
For example, if you want to enhance the sweet mint flavor and offset the spiciness, choose sweeteners such as honey. In contrast, ginger will highlight the spicy taste, and herbs like lavender will bring focus to the aromatic flavors.
Simply put, there’s a lot of room for experimenting when it comes to teas. The best part is that these additives also have plenty of health benefits. You can even grow a spice garden, so you’ll have an assortment of organic flavors to combine with various hot drinks.
Final Thoughts
Peppermint tea has many health benefits, but that’s not the only reason this drink is popular across the world. If you know how to prepare it correctly, it can also be a mouthwatering beverage.
As for the flavor, peppermint tea is a bit spicy and sweet at the same time. If it’s your first time trying it, you can find its taste too strong. Fortunately, people have found numerous methods on how to make peppermint tea taste better. Most of these ingredients are already in your pantry!
A squeeze of lemon, a drop of honey, or a couple of berries will enhance your peppermint tea. So, you can enjoy its taste as well as the numerous health benefits.
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.