Stash Chocolate Peppermint Tea
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Stash Chocolate Peppermint Tea

For our Chocolate Peppermint herbal tea, we blend the rich flavor of chocolate with refreshing, aromatic peppermint leaves. The result is a dessert-like tea that is cool and minty with a hint of chocolate, reminiscent of peppermint patties. It makes a superb drink, hot or iced, any time of day, and is especially nice with a little sugar added.

The botanical name for the cocoa tree is "theobroma cacao" which is Greek for "food of the gods". The first people to use cocoa were the Maya, who lived in Mexico and Central America, as long ago as 600 AD. When Cortez conquered Mexico in 1519, the Aztecs were already making a drink called xocolatl (or chocolatal) which was a rather bitter potion made from roasted cocoa beans, water and spices. Over the centuries this drink spread throughout the world. In the mid 1600s the first chocolate shop was opened in London. In 1828, Coenraad Johannes Van Houten, a Dutch chemist and chocolate manufacturer, invented a hydraulic press which extracted cocoa oil. The dry residue left from this process was crushed to produce a fine cocoa powder. The versatile cocoa bean has continued to provide pleasure as a drink, snack, candy, and flavoring.

Peppermint is a perennial herb that is a natural hybrid of Mentha aquatica L. (water mint) and M. spicata L. (spearmint). The genus name Mentha is from the Greek Mintha, the name of a mythical nymph who metamorphosed into this plant; its species name piperita is from the Latin piper, meaning pepper, alluding to its aromatic and pungent taste.

The United States is the leading producer of peppermint oil. Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wisconsin, and Indiana lead in Peppermint production. Peppermint oil is a well-known flavoring added to gums, candies, medicines, ointments, liquors, mouthwashes, toothpastes and other products. Mint leaves have been used in medicine for several thousand years, according to records from the Greek, Roman, and ancient Egyptian eras. Scientific evidence shows that Peppermint helps stimulate the body and is calming to the stomach. Peppermint is one of the oldest and best-tasting home remedies for indigestion, and to soothe nagging coughs and relieve sore throats.

Stash Peppermint is produced exclusively from top quality Oregon grown peppermint, which is considered the world's finest. Oregon's deep rich soil, moist cool winters and long dry sunny summers provide mint growers with the natural tools to produce peppermint. The mint is harvested in July and August and when dried it is sold as leaf or to produce peppermint oil. Stash Tea purchases its mint leaf directly from Oregon farmers. It is sent from Oregon fields to the Stash Tea plant where it is packaged to protect the freshness and menthol content.