Mint Thins

Mint Thins. Paper-thin dark chocolate mint discs from the mint farm.

Mint Thins are thin dark chocolate discs from Summerdown, flavoured with peppermint oil from the farm's own fields in Hampshire. No filled chocolates, no milk chocolate, no artificial mint sweets.

Mint Thins are a mint chocolate from Summerdown made with dark chocolate containing at least 55 per cent cocoa and distilled Black Mitcham peppermint oil. If you think of English mint chocolate as soft, sweet squares from the supermarket, you're mistaken. These discs are bitter, thin and dry to the snap. The mint is not a sugary coating, but a cool breath that only appears after the cocoa. And it comes from a plant grown on the same farm where the box is packed. That is rare. Most mint chocolates buy their flavouring and do not know which field it comes from.

First the cocoa, then the cool

The discs taste of dark cocoa first, and only then of peppermint, which leaves a long, cool finish. The disc is so thin that it melts on the tongue in a few seconds. There is no filling to alter the flavour, only chocolate and oil.

The 150-gram box contains around twenty discs, each about the size of a two-euro coin and barely thicker. The surface is matte and smooth, without embossing. When opened, the cocoa hits the nose first; the mint only appears when broken. If you leave the disc in your mouth instead of chewing it, you get the longest finish. Chewed, it is gone in two seconds.

Black Mitcham is an old English peppermint variety with a high menthol content, but without the grassy sharpness of many modern varieties. In the disc, it tastes round and almost warm before the coolness sets in. Summerdown ages the oil in barrels before use, which removes its sharp peaks. You can taste this in the finish, which remains clean and without a scratchy aftertaste.

Anyone looking for a creamy mint chocolate will find the Thins too bitter and too dry. The cocoa content is high, there is no milk, and the sugar takes a back seat to the bitterness. If, on the other hand, you like dark chocolate and only want mint as an accent, you are in the right place. Anyone who does not eat mint chocolate because it is too sweet should also try the Thins. They are the exception to the rule.

After dinner, with espresso and in dessert

In England, the Thins belong at the end of a dinner, where they complete the menu with coffee. Two discs per person are enough; more can quickly feel like too much after a full menu. With a double espresso without sugar, a combination of roasted bitterness and coolness is created that cleanses the palate.

For dessert, break four discs into large pieces and sprinkle them over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The pieces remain crisp, and the mint draws into the ice cream. In a mousse au chocolat, two melted discs replace the mint flavouring that otherwise comes from a bottle. If you are offering a cheese board, place a disc next to a mild blue cheese. The combination is unusual, but it works.

They pair with any drink that has bitterness of its own. An amaro after dinner, a glass of port, or a strong black tea. Sweet wines such as Sauternes are not suitable; their sweetness clashes with the mint. If you prefer it alcohol-free, serve it with a cold glass of water with lemon, which prolongs the coolness of the mint.

Good to know: The discs are not suitable for hot drinks. Although they dissolve in hot milk or cocoa, the mint oil separates and floats on top. Anyone who prefers mint chocolate with filling will find the softer version in the After Dinner Creams from the same farm.

A mint that had disappeared from England

Black Mitcham takes its name from the place Mitcham south of London, where English peppermint was grown on a large scale in the 19th century. In the 20th century, the variety disappeared from English fields, but survived in small quantities in the United States. In the early 1990s, Sir Michael Colman brought cuttings back to Hampshire. The first plot was no bigger than a tennis court.

Today, around 28 hectares of Black Mitcham grow on the farm near Basingstoke, and every plant descends from those first cuttings. It is harvested in late summer, when the oil content of the leaves is highest. The plants are cut, briefly wilted, and then distilled directly on the estate using steam. The steam extracts the essential oil from the leaves, and in the cooler it separates from the water. Only a few litres of oil are produced from a ton of leaves. For the Thins, the oil is not sparingly dosed, but so that the mint does not overpower the cocoa. The ratio is the result of many experiments in the farm kitchen.

The oil is then aged in barrels before it is added to the chocolate. This storage is unusual; most manufacturers process peppermint oil fresh. Summerdown won the BBC Food and Farming Award for this in 2022, one of the most important awards for British food businesses.

The chocolate where the mint comes from the field

What sets the Mint Thins apart from other mint chocolates is the origin of the flavouring. In almost all mint chocolates, the oil comes from a flavouring manufacturer who buys it worldwide. At Summerdown, the mint grows next to the kitchen where the discs are made. This is not a marketing slogan, but the reason the flavour tastes so distinctive. The Thins are the most reduced form of it, without filling and without milk. Anyone who wants to get to know Summerdown should start here.

As a gift, the box is suitable for hosts who cook themselves and like to keep dessert short. One box is enough for six people with coffee after dinner. Once opened, it keeps for several weeks if kept closed, at 16 to 18 degrees and away from spices whose scent the chocolate absorbs. Anyone who wants to experience all the farm's mint varieties at once should choose the gift box with four varieties. Further dark varieties are available on the shelf for chocolate.

A disc that says more after dinner than any peppermint liqueur, and with less effort.