Mint chocolate
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Mint chocolate, also known as Chocolate mint, is a popular variety of flavored chocolate. It is created when mint flavoring, such as peppermint, spearmint, or creme de menthe, is added to plain chocolate. Chocolate mint also refers to an herb, specifically a hybrid mint plant, that tastes and especially smells like a combination of mint and chocolate.
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[edit] The flavor
The chocolate component can be milk chocolate, regular dark chocolate, or white chocolate; due to this, mint chocolate has no one specific flavor and so, each chocolate-plus-flavor combination can be unique.
[edit] The smell
Depending widely on the ingredients and the process used, mint chocolate can give off a very distinctive mint fragrance.
[edit] Uses
Mint chocolate can be found in a wide variety of edible products, such as candy, mints, cookies, ice cream (see Mint Chocolate Chip), the beverage hot chocolate, and others. In addition it is marketed (non-edibly) as a beauty/bath product.
Mint chocolate can be marketed under many different names and descriptions, some of which can be technically misleading. For example, Haviland Thin Mints and Hershey's York Peppermint Patties are actually mint patties - peppermint-flavored centers dipped in a chocolate coating. While the resulting flavor combination is that of mint+chocolate, none of these products actually contains mint chocolate.
[edit] Varieties
- Andes Chocolate Mints
- Hershey's Chocolate Mint Collection - Limited Edition Miniatures
- Marshall Field's Frango Mints
- Velamints
...are retail versions of true Mint chocolate, where as...
- Haviland Thin Mints
- Hershey's York Peppermint Patties
- Junior Mints
- Pearson's Chocolate Mint Patties
- After Eights
...are all mint patties, where, upon consumption, the resulting flavor is mint+chocolate.
[edit] Trivia
According to the National Confectioners Association website www.candyusa.org, February 19th is Chocolate Mint Day.
[edit] See Also
- Mint Chocolate Chip (ice cream)