Fresh Mint Vs Dried Mint: When To Use Each In Cocktails & Mocktails

Mint leaves are one of the most popular ingredients used in mixology. However, their popularity also brings a question to the table – using fresh mint vs dried mint. The answer depends on the drink being made.

Mint leaves have a peppery taste and sharp flavour. Adding mint gives them a light profile while imbuing them with a chewy textural element. Mint leaves can either be used fresh or they can be dehydrated and stored in tins so that dried mint can be added to different cocktails and mocktails.

Fresh mint in drinks is an interesting garnish for cocktails like the mojito or mocktails like a lemon and mint cooler. However, dried mint is often preferred in mocktails like jaljeera or shikanji, where the flavour of the herb needs to be deeper and tart.

What makes mixologists choose between fresh and dried mint while blending drinks is primarily their flavour. 

Fresh mint:

• Fresh mint leaves have a sharp and more pronounced taste of menthol. 

• Fresh mint leaves, when muddled in a cocktail shaker, tend to quickly release their oils into a blend.

Dried Mint:

• Dried mint leaves contain a bit of a tart note and subdued peppery flavours. 

• Dried mint leaves have a crisp texture and are devoid of water, so they can be used as a coarse infusion ingredient or as an addition to drinks with earthy flavour notes.

Fresh mint can alter the visual and aromatic profile of cocktails, especially with open-top or highball-style drinks. In contrast, dried mint plays an indirect role by integrating into syrups, teas, and spirit infusions, where the intention is to extract flavour gradually and in a controlled manner. 

One of the biggest differentiators between fresh and dried mint is how they are used in the structure. While fresh mint is best suited to light, citrus-based cocktails, dried mint goes well with spiced, smoky or barrel-aged spirits, without being too prominent.

Cool Drinks: Fresh Mint

Warm Drinks: Dried Mint

An interesting factor that contributes to choosing between fresh and dried mint is a drink’s temperature. For cool drinks like the margarita cocktail made using 30 ml quality Don Julio Blanco tequila, it is better to use fresh mint in drinks so its peppery and crisp flavours go well with the sweet and sour agave, tequila and lime mix. 

However, while blending hot toddies or a 30 ml Johnny Walker Red Label-infused mint tea, dried leaves would better bring the flavours of the herb into the mix. Warm drinks are so crafted that they would highlight the tastes of varied ingredients used in the blend, making dried herbs that contain more concentrated flavours a suitable addition to these recipes.

Bright Colours: Fresh Mint

Subdued Colours: Dried Mint

Another way to decide which kind of mint to use in a drink is to decipher which colour tone suits a beverage. For tropical, fruity drinks containing fresh juices of oranges and pineapple, fresh mint would be a more suitable garnish. This will match the bright hues of the freshly squeezed fruit juices.

On the other hand, for drinks which contain deeper colours like the jaljeera with its mildly brownish hue, dried mint would perhaps be the appropriate choice as its deep green colour blends well with the overall shade of the drink.

For Garnishing: Fresh Mint

For Infusion: Dried Mint

Undoubtedly, deciding which mint to use depends upon how it is incorporated into a cocktail. Fresh mint in drinks offers better colours and textures for garnishing a drink and is a good embellishment on simple blends.

Dried mint is better for infusions in teas and simple syrup because its flavour has the primary role to play in such a blend. A dried mint-infused simple syrup will contain pronounced minty notes, making it an interesting addition to multiple sherbets and cocktail blends.

In conclusion, both dried and fresh mint serve important and distinct roles in terms of texture and aroma, allowing bartenders to manipulate the flavour, pacing and progression of their cocktails.

Drink Responsibly. This communication is for audiences above the age of 25.