Organic Peppermint Essential Oil

Peppermint is thought to be a naturally occurring hybrid cross between spearmint and water mint. As early as 1550 B.C. peppermint was listed in the Ebers Papyrus, an Egyptian medical text claiming usefulness with stomach pains. While there is some argument about if other ancient texts reference peppermint or a different sub-species, ‘mint’ is mentioned biblically as tithed currency and by Pliny the Elder as a natural stimulant. In fact, he recommended it be bound into crowns to spur leaders’ thoughts and spiritualism. American Indians used mint varieties profusely, and in the Middle Ages peppermint was a tooth polisher and way to keep pests away. Perhaps the first recording of peppermint as its own sub-species was in the thirteenth century Icelandic Pharmacopoeia. It was listed in the London Pharmacopoeia by 1721 as a treatment for sores, colds, and headaches. An origin myth about mint involves the Greek nymph Minthe, who drew the interest of Hades before his wife Persephone caught the