I guess this is what you call backlogging?
Last night I was so exhausted from working until after midnight the night before (and starting before 7 a.m. the next morning) that I went directly to bed after dinner. But the night before that, I decided to try replicating this flavor using loose spearmint and peppermint leaves and some tarragon I found on the spice shelf.
I didn’t recall Refresh being overly pepperminty, so I thought they must go heavier on the spearmint. Accordingly, my concoction was 2 parts spearmint, 1 part peppermint and 1/2 part tarragon. It tasted pretty good, and, I thought, similar to what I remembered Refresh tasting like. Then I had Refresh, to compare.
Boy, was I wrong. Big difference. First, the peppermint is stronger than it seemed. Second, the tarragon is actually more responsible for the taste, or perhaps the synergy among the ingredients, than I’d expected. The Refresh tasted much better than my attempt. Much… fresher.
Next time I think I will try a 1:1 ratio of spearmint and peppermint. I may also have to buy some fresher tarragon. And finally, I may need a different peppermint. Although I really like the Upton spearmint, this batch of peppermint, also from Upton, is too earthy for me. I find the dirt undercurrent distracting. I suppose I could also try washing the leaves, so perhaps I’ll do that as well.
