Chocolate Mint

Chocolate Mint is a popular cultivar of peppermint, Mentha x piperita, named for the rich chocolate-and-mint aroma of its foliage that evokes a mint chocolate candy. It carries the same cooling menthol backbone as peppermint but with a warm, cocoa-like undertone that makes it a favorite for desserts, hot chocolate, teas, and garnishes. The plant has attractive dark green leaves with bronze to purplish tints borne on dark reddish stems, growing 1 to 2 feet tall and spreading by runners like other mints. It bears small lavender flowers in summer that attract pollinators. Hardy in USDA zones 5 to 11, it is grown from cuttings or division rather than seed and is best contained in a pot. Chocolate Mint is prized as much for its fragrance as its flavor.