Mint flavouring is cheap, shelf-stable, and consistent. Real mint is the opposite of all three.
We chose real anyway.
Coorg mint has a slightly cooler finish than the mint grown in the plains — the elevation slows the leaf and concentrates the menthol. You taste it in the back of the throat, not the tip of the tongue.
We blanch the leaves briefly to lock the colour, then cold-infuse. That is more work than dropping in a flavour packet, and it is the difference between mint that reads garden-fresh and mint that reads toothpaste.
The cost shows up on the spreadsheet. The taste shows up in the bottle.
