Be honest – how many candy canes have you had this holiday season? We won’t judge your answer. According to the National Confectioners Association, about 1.2 billion candy canes are made annually, with 90 percent of those sold between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
But it’s not just around Christmas when we see peppermint, it’s ingrained in our everyday products. Toothpaste (duh), gum, body scrubs, lip balm, candles, coffee creamer, and alcohol. The U.S. produces nearly 70 percent of the world’s peppermint, growing 4.57 million pounds in 2021.
Not to say it’s the most popular herb in the country. Hawaii alone produces 12.7 million pounds of fresh basil every year, but you don’t see it being jammed into so many creams, waxes, and booze.
So the question I have is: Why are we so obsessed with peppermint?
What is Peppermint?
Peppermint is a natural hybrid of spearmint and wild mint and classified underneath the mint umbrella mentha x piperita. The most common naturally occurring compound in peppermint is menthol, an ingredient you might recognize from cigarettes and cough drops.
Why We Love It
This obsession isn’t new. Ancient Egyptian medical books mention peppermints as a means of curing hiccups, which is…
