English Black Mitcham Peppermint

Recently I went to visit the Casson family who have been growing Original English Black Mitcham Peppermint on their Frith Farm in Hampshire for over 50 years.

For decades the mint farming industry in the UK was in decline due to the import of cheaper but less flavoursome varieties from America. However, in the 1970s Jim Casson re-propagated the Original English Black Mitcham Peppermint from plant stock that one of the old growers in Mitcham, Surrey had maintained in his own garden!

The Casson family now grow this rare variety over 100 acres, alongside other herbs such as sage, chamomile and lavender.

The essential oil that the Original English Black Mitcham Peppermint produces is distilled on the farm, and this is a key ingredient in ‘Duchy Originals from Waitrose’ Mint Duchy Thins chocolates. The essential oil gives the chocolates a truly British flavour.

The farm is run and operated by Jim Casson and his daughter Charlotte, who has been involved in the business since the age of 12 during her summer holidays.

Charlotte certainly knows her mint; on the visit she explained to me that Original English Black Mitcham Peppermint is renowned for its rarity and superior flavour, and the family are pretty certain that there is no one else growing this variety anywhere in the world.

The mint changes from a very dark green, almost black, colour to a lighter shade as it grows and reacts with sunlight. The crop is normally harvested in August but this year it was harvested in September due to wet weather. The oil extraction process takes around four hours, before it is transferred to barrels where it matures for four months.

It has taken Charlotte 10 years to learn what she knows now, but she assures me she has another 30 years to go before she completes her apprenticeships!

I am just glad to know that this spectacular variety of peppermint will continue to be grown by the Casson Family for generations to come; so that the chocolates we create at House of Dorchester will retain a delicious and truly British flavour.

Katherine.