Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Retro Sweets - Hitting the Mints

 

What do Assorted Mojos, Buttermints,  Golf Ball Bubble Gum, Jesmona Black Bullets, Kendal Cake and Old Fashioned Humbugs have in common? They're all mint candies.  Best of all, they're all retro sweets.  The thought of the old-fashioned candies never fails to warm us up to memories we had as kids of which those retro mints were definitely a big part.  

 

What is it about mint that makes it a hit?  Mint is actually a type of candy whose dominant taste is a minty flavoring coming from real peppermint or spearmint oil.  However, there are also artificial sources of these flavorings such as wintergreen.  The question on what makes mint tick will have a case-to-case answer and will probably even have something to do with the mint types.

 

There are hard mints which are also called called breath mints for obvious reasons.  These are usually taken with the purpose of giving the breath some freshening up.  A hard mint would have a really strong taste and smell of mint.  Not many retro sweets are hard mints and it's not surprising because a candy can't be candy if it has a very strong menthol presence at the same time.  Other well-known hard mints which may not fall under the retro category are Altoids, Tic Tacs and Meltzer's.  Aside from being breath fresheners,  they can also be good for digestion. Anybody who needs a little tummy quieting will find it wise to have hard mints in handy and this is backed by research.  Peppermint oil or extract, to be exact, has even been widely used for stomach cramps and this probably has something to do with peppermint oil and tea being part of some health buffs' after- meal rituals.  Another health benefit one can supposedly get from these mints is memory improvement. It is said that the sucking motion on mint candy stimulates a part of the brain that helps to sharpen up memory.

 

On the other hand, soft mints, also called “mint candy” are those that have a subtle mint taste and are softer and creamier.  While they're still minty, they usually come subtler and with more of the sweet flavor.

 

Of course, the mints that almost everybody loves are called scotch mints. If you would have figured it by now, this is where your favorite retro sweets come in.  Mintoes, Murray Mints, Ritter Sport – Peppermint, Spearmint Chews, Spearmint Pips, Sugar Free Mint and Aniseed and Uncle Joes Mint Balls are just of our beloved soft mints that have helped us with our random needs for a fresher mouth and feeling.  Yes, scotch mints also work like the hard and soft mints when it comes to giving us that cool, clean feeling,  the mint isn't that overwhelming.

 

If you love mints, retro sweets are how they could best come in.  And of course, you always have your handy online retro sweet shop to help you with hundreds of choices you can splurge in.

 

 

 

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