The nose
How they smell
A stillroom is a nose as much as a cup. Crush a leaf. These are the scents of this cupboard — petal, hay, camphor, lemon, musk.
Menthol, bergamot, crushed leaf.
3 plants
Mint-cool
Peppermint
Mentha × piperita
Cool, fresh, mentholated, and penetrating, with herbal-green notes. Sharp and clean. The steam is half the plant.
Mint-cool
Spearmint
Mentha spicata
Cool and green like mint, but sweeter and less piercing than peppermint. A kinder menthol — jelly, leaf, a summer porch.
Mint-cool
Oswego tea
Monarda didyma
Aromatic, minty, and bergamot- or oregano-like, with a spicy edge. Fragrant when crushed — citrus-herbal, the bee-balm smell of midsummer.
Traditional kitchen and folk use only. This is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are pregnant, nursing, on medicine, or unwell, ask a clinician before drinking anything as a remedy.