What’s the coolest flavor of the holiday season? It's peppermint, obviously, and it’s showing up in everything from coffee to chocolate and cookies to ice cream right now. But while standing in line for a peppermint mocha is a standard feature of the holiday season today, there was a time when this garden-standard herb was seen as so special—even powerful—that it made three American entrepreneurs rich enough to be crowned the "Peppermint Kings." This episode, the story of the forgotten American mint monarchy, plus the fascinating science behind why mint cools your tongue and maybe really does cure all. Join us to jingle all the way through peppermint heists, the surprising link between mint essence-peddlers and the abolition movement, and the true stories behind your favorite mint candies—including the disputed origins of the iconic candy cane. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Take a trip down Candy cane lane with me.
It's the cutest thing I swear you'll ever see.
It's coming up to Christmas, and Sia is not wrong.
That means peppermint.
There aren't that many seasonal flavors that I particularly look forward to.
I'm not a fan of pumpkin spice, but I do truly love peppermint.
And I'm clearly not the only one.
A little thing I love about the Chick Fil, a peppermint chip milkshake, is that first sip when you taste the peppermint chip pieces, it's like catching snowflakes on your tongue.
The holidays are here at Starbucks.
Celebrate with a peppermint mocha Ghirardelli Peppermint bark squares.
Makes the holidays a bite better.
Yep, everything is peppermint right now.
So to help you embrace the season of red and white striped coolness, this episode, we're also all about mint.
We, of course, are Gastropod, the podcast that looks at food through the lens of science and history.
I'm Nicola Twilley.
And I'm Cynthia Graeber.
And this episode, candy canes are peppermint flavored.
But I know that's not the only kind of mint mint you can find at the garden store.
How did peppermint win out to become the candy mint?
And why does it make your whole mouth cold in such a seasonally appropriate way?