Belgian Mint is an herbal tea meant to be savored alongside your favorite special dessert after a satisfying meal. It cleans and refreshes the palate with dark chocolate and bright peppermint flavors. Sweet enough to be dessert in its own right, but never cloying, we've found that Belgian Mint goes way beyond its intended purpose. It has become a favorite afternoon refreshment, and can be added into recipes to add a soothing chocolate-mint flavor.

The husks of cacao seeds are leftover from the chocolate making process and contain a hint of the chocolate flavor, but do not retain measurable quantities of caffeine or the other bitter flavors of pure cacao. Cacao "beans" are the pod-like fruit of the cacao or cocoa tree, Theobroma cacao. Native to South and Central America, this tree has been domesticated for many centuries. Each cacao tree produces about 20 beans a year. Each bean weighs about a pound, and produces a few hundred seeds. The seeds are crushed and processed into cocoa paste and cocoa butter, both of which are used to make chocolate and cocoa. Cacao beans were so valued in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations that they were actually used as currency. Both the cacao bean and cacao husk are used in Belgian Mint tea to impart a rich, all-natural chocolate flavor in every sip.

The peppermint's fresh, invigorating character cleanses the palate and is a wonderful after-dinner digestive. In addition, peppermint is thought to improve sleep and the menthol in peppermint is a natural decongestant explaining why mint teas are so wonderful when you have a cold.

Any sweet foods will enhance the flavors of Belgian Mint. We've also found that it is terrific sweetened with a touch of agave nectar or sugar.