Learn how to make your own mint extract at home with this easy DIY tutorial.
Making your own extracts is extremely easy to do, highly economical, and makes a great gift.
Many people have heard of making your own vanilla extract, but making herbal extracts like mint are just as easy.
A few years ago, I planted two tiny chocolate mint plants in the corner of my flower bed next to the front porch.
Now there is so much that I have to thin it out every year or it will suffocate all of my other plants. I have mint for days!
Besides throwing mints in my chicken coops, this is a great way to put some of that (sometimes invasive) abundance to good use.
DIY Mint Extract Recipe
To make your own extract you will need:
- fresh mint leaves (Peppermint, Spearmint, or any other mint you might like. I used Chocolate Mint here.)
- pickle packer (wood dowel)
- vodka
- a pint jar with lid
- cheesecloth or muslin
- storage bottles
- a dark cabinet and time
Watch me make Mint Extract in this episode:
Instructions:
To make your mint extract, harvest a good bit of the fresh mint.
Wash the plants with cold water to remove any dirt.
Remove the leaves, discarding any dry or yellowed leaves and the stems, keeping the fresh green leaves.
You will need a packed-full cup of leaves. Pack it down like you would brown sugar.
Place the cup of mint into a pint jar.
Use a “pickle packer“, or dowel, to mash the leaves. This releases the oils and helps make them more readily available to steep in the liquid. This is also called bruising or muddling the leaves.
Pour in 1 1/2 – 2 cups of vodka. Enough to fill the jar.
Close the jar and give it a shake. Label the jar with the contents and date you started the extract.
Place it in a cool, dark cabinet.
Now you wait.
Each day give the jar a shake – it’s okay if you forget now and again. But to help you remember, place it in a cabinet you go into all the time…like where the coffee cups are, if you’re me.
Wait 1-2 months. The longer you let it go, the more flavorful the extract will be.
After you have waited for what seems like forever, strain the contents of the jar through some cheesecloth or muslin. Discard the old leaves and keep the liquid.
Pour the mint extract into jars, preferably ones with amber glass (like these).
Your homemade mint extract is ready for your recipes!
This also makes a great gift from the kitchen.
Try adding mint extract to chocolate recipes, like The Best Little Chocolate Cake or in Homemade Butter Mints.
Did you Make this Recipe? I’d love for you to give me a 5 star rating in the recipe card below. If you share it on Instagram, please tag me! You can also post it to my Facebook Page.
DIY Mint Extract Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 c firmly packed, fresh mint leaves (Peppermint, Spearmint, Chocolate Mint, etc.)
- vodka
You Will Also Need:
- pickle packer, wood dowel
- a pint jar with lid
- cheesecloth or muslin
- storage bottles
Instructions
- To make your mint extract, harvest a good bit of the fresh mint. Wash the plants with cold water to remove any dirt.
- Remove the leaves, discarding any dry or yellowed leaves and the stems, keeping the fresh green leaves. You will need a packed-full cup of leaves. Pack it down like you would brown sugar.
- Place the cup of mint into a pint jar.
- Use a “pickle packer”, or dowel, to mash the leaves. This releases the oils and helps make them more readily available to steep in the liquid. This is also called bruising or muddling the leaves. If you don't have the tool, simply crush the leaves in your hands a bit before adding them to the pint jar.
- Pour in 1 1/2 – 2 cups of vodka. Enough to fill the jar.
- Close the jar and give it a shake. Label the jar with the contents and date you started the extract. Place it in a cool, dark cabinet.
- Now you wait.
- Each day give the jar a shake – it’s okay if you forget now and again. But to help you remember, place it in a cabinet you go into all the time…like where the coffee cups are, if you’re me.
- Wait 1-2 months. The longer you let it go, the more flavorful the extract will be.
- After you have waited for what seems like forever, strain the contents of the jar through some cheesecloth or muslin. Discard the old leaves and keep the liquid.
- Pour the mint extract into jars, preferably ones with amber glass to block light and preserve flavor.
- Your homemade mint extract is ready for your recipes!
Video
Notes
If nutritional values are provided for this recipe, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands of ingredients you use. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste or for serving. If nutritional values are very important to you, I suggest using your favorite nutritional calculating tool with the brands you use.
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Love it
well done, very nice sharing, thank you, good work
Thanks for this fantastic post. It was so great to see so many amazing ideas that can be implemented easily.
Thanks so much for this. I have loads of several different mints and will certainly be doing this. Love your site. Thanks for all you do.
This is the best blog I have seen so far keep it up