Fresh-Breath Foods

There was a time, not so long ago, when the Girl Scouts knocked on your front door instead of standing outside your local supermarket, selling their popular cookies. My wife would tease me because I never had the heart to turn down the cute little uniformed kids on my doorstep. But let the record show, I really do like Girl Scout cookies. And if I had the money to buy just one box, it’d be the Thin Mints every time.

Nature’s fresh-breath herb

I’ve been a mint fan as long as I can remember.  I’m not talking about foods (yet) so much as the flavor itself.  Peppermint, spearmint, wintergreen, or even a fresh sprig right out of the ground – they all speak to me with a sort of spicy vibe.  I find a food so “tasteful” when it’s freshening your breath at the same time.

For a hot minute I thought the Girl Scout Thin Mints were gone for good.  A recent headline teased the departure of a “cult-favorite” cookie flavor and I feared the Mints had run their course.  Instead, it’s the lookalike “Raspberry Rally” calling it quits.  No harm, no foul.  As long as I can still buy the Thin Mints (and an occasional Caramel Delite) I’ll happily fork over the $5 (now $6) a box.

Mint-striped “humbug” candies

Had the Thin Mints really been gone for good, I needn’t look far to find other fresh-breath foods.  Who doesn’t like a scoop of peppermint or mint chocolate-chip ice cream?  A pack of Mentos?  Listerine?  Heck, I’ll even settle for that gritty peppermint paste the hygienist uses to polish your teeth.

Brach’s “Star Brights”

Minty consumables really do run the gamut.  You’ll find over fifty global brands of breath mints, including Altoids (my favorite), Breath Savers, Certs, Clorets, Ice Breakers, Tic Tac, and Velamints.  But put all of these together and you still wouldn’t come close to the Starlight Mint population.  The origin of Starlights is one of the world’s great mysteries.  Brach’s Candy claims their invention, but if so then why do they call them “Star Brights”?

If Starlights are too dime-store for your taste perhaps you prefer the softer texture of a “butter mint”.  Butters are often found, individually wrapped, in the lobbies of fine restaurants (gone are the days where you’d just spoon yourself a handful on the way out the door).  I’ve always thought a butter mint is caught in a quandary,  Does it identify more as “butter” or “mint”?

Mint julep

Speaking of a refined palate, minty liquors make for some mighty fine beverages.  The first drink my wife and I ever shared was hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps from a thermos at our college’s movie night.  A grasshopper (and my wife has a killer recipe for one) is a fresh-breath milkshake made with crème de menthe.  And the Kentucky Derby’s mint julep is more bourbon than mint but you’ll always find fresh sprigs garnishing the top.

If not the Starlights, my first introduction to mint was probably packs of Life Savers.  There used to be several mint flavors of “the candy with the hole in the middle” including Wint-O-Green, Stik-O-Pep, and Spear-O-Mint.  But when the trendier Mentos and Tic-Tac came along, Life Savers headed for the rear-view mirror.

Mistake-O-Mint

No mention of mint would be complete without a couple of failures (at least IMHO).  In the 1970s the makers of Starburst came out with a short-lived minty version called Pacers.  They never worked for me because I always expected those chewy little squares to be fruit-flavored.  Nabisco’s Oreo, which blossomed into 85+ varieties from their black-and-white signature sandwich cookie, include ones with green mint filling.  No, just no.  Oreos are meant to be the vanilla originals.  Food-color them orange for Halloween if you will but don’t change the taste.

[Side advertisement: The next time I fly overseas I’ll have to give Jet Blue’s Mint class a try.  Their individual “apart-mint” cubicles allow you to lie flat, with lots of cushions, a TV, and plenty of storage space for your carry-on items.  Fancy, huh?  All that’s missing is a chocolate mint on your memory foam pillow before you drift off to sleep.]

France’s “Monnaie de Paris” Mint

Here’s a chicken-or-egg question.  Which mint came first, the flavor itself or the stodgy industrial facility which manufactures coins?  I always thought it’d be cool to work in a mint.  You’re handling millions of dollars every day and if someone asked what you do for a living, you just say casually, “Oh, I make money.”  And If it were up to me I’d give all those coins a sweet-smelling scent on their way out the door so they’d be “freshly-minted” two times over.

Our Christmas celebrations used to include a box of Frango Mints, the melt-in-your-mouth chocolates you could buy at Chicago’s Marshall Field’s.  These days we go with Williams-Sonoma peppermint bark.  Our tree will always welcome a peppermint candy cane or two.  And if a Girl Scout should ever knock on my front door again, I’ll be happy to help her meet her quota, because the Thin Mints will always be a breath of fresh air.

Some content sourced from the CNN Business article, “The Girl Scouts are discontinuing a cult-favorite cookie”, and Wikipedia, “the free encyclopedia”.

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Author: Dave

Five hundred posts would suggest I have something to say… This blog was born from a desire to elevate the English language, highlighting eloquent words from days gone by. The stories I share are snippets of life itself, and each comes with a bonus: a dusted-off word I hope you’ll go on to use more often. Read “Deutschland-ish Improvements” to learn about my backyard European wish list. Try “Slush Fun” for the throwback years of the 7-Eleven convenience store. Or drink in "Iced Coffee" to discover the plight of the rural French cafe. On the lighter side, read "Late Night Racquet Sports" for my adventures with our latest moth invasion. As Walt Whitman said, “That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” Here then, my verse. Welcome to Life In A Word.

23 thoughts on “Fresh-Breath Foods”

  1. Frango Mints! Oh I’ve only had those a couple of times– and so good. Thin Mints are okay, but don’t hit me like they do other people. I’ve not had Williams-Sonoma peppermint bark but just this week saw an ad for it and now wonder if that’s a sign I should try some.

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    1. My wife and I think every restaurant should include some version of mint ice cream on their dessert menu (pref. peppermint). Seems like a no-brainer with all those leftover flavors in your mouth from dinner.

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    1. My wife’s version of the grasshopper is essentially a spiked milk shake, which sometimes makes me think I just should’ve had a scoop of mint ice cream instead.

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  5. I have mixed feelings about mint. I love it by itself in gum/peppermints and toothpaste, but I don’t love thin mints or mint chocolate chip ice cream. I do enjoy a little bit of peppermint bark for the holidays.

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    1. This doesn’t surprise me, Lyssy, even though I’m a fan of chocolate and mint myself. I can see how some (maybe most) prefer the pure flavor. I keep a box of Tic-Tac in the car; a fail-safe for fresh breath when I know I’ll be together with other people.

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  6. This was a fun food post Dave. I like Altoids too, so strong you think you’ll turn inside out while having one. I used to like Velamints, but haven’t had any in years, but they had a licorice-flavored mint that was my favorite. I wasn’t allowed to eat candy growing up, so really don’t have candy now, but back then it was a little chocolate for Easter (bunny and eggs), one or two chocolate items for Halloween and a chocolate Santa. No sticky candy, but my parents would allow me to have one candy cane. And now, manufacturers have so many flavors and colors of candy canes, it’s like the original peppermint-striped candy canes are passé. Years ago my neighbor loved sun tea and she’d have a canister brewing on her deck railing every day in the Summer. She planted mint in the garden and that mint traveled through the fence and began to grow in my garden. On humid days it would smell like Doublemint gum.

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    1. The licorice Velamints and anything-but-peppermint candy canes are examples of products where they should’ve left well-enough alone. There’s nothing more frustrating than looking for a product on the grocery store shelves and finding nothing but the alternatives instead (ex. Wheat Thins).

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      1. Tic Tacs should have remained white, not the other colors/flavors. For me it is Triscuits (Hint of Sea Salt) – minimal boxes of those, but tons of varieties of Triscuits now, plus the knockoffs.

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      2. Ha! Now there’s a coincidence, Linda. I bought a box of the “Hint of Sea Salt” Triscuits just a few days ago, thinking, “A little extra salt sounds nice…”. Didn’t realize they were “low sodium” until I tasted one. They’re not bad (and better for you); I’m just used to the originals. Clever (deceptive?) marketing!

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      3. Two coincidences! After Triscuit came out with “Hint of Sea Salt” I never returned to the original. I have had the Cracked Pepper and Olive Oil and really liked them, but I try to stay with no-salt or low-sodium items if possible. Triscuits are a better alternative than bread which is very salty. Good marketing campaign for them!

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  7. You have hit on a lot here. I like the Thin Mints a lot, but over the last several years the Samoas have edged into my spot for a favorite.

    The Frangos are a lot like the Fannie May Meltaways that have been a tradition in my wife’s family. Chocolate and mint go very well together. The Olive Garden restaurant agrees, because they give out little chocolate mint candies with the check.

    There was fresh mint growing in a small bed at my first house. It quickly got out of control and started growing everywhere else too. I had to eradicate it before it took over everything, despite the little mental picture I had of using it for fresh mint julips – something I never actually made.

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    1. I forgot about the Andes mints, which I think is Olive Garden’s go-to. My wife was raised on Fannie Mae, so I’ve had the meltaways a time or two. Definitely the “peppermint ice” – the square pieces in the long box. Can’t go wrong with Fannie Mae (this from a devoted See’s fan!)

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  8. I, too, am a fan of Williams-Sonoma peppermint bark, but my everyday mint fix is 6-8 Jr. Mints with a cup of decaf coffee after dinner!

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  9. I sure like the Thin Mints too. Funny that you mentioned the Frango Mints. I was just at Macy’s a few days ago and thought, should I get a box or not?! I like to buy them around Xmas. Like you, I like to think they are still part of Marshall Fields!

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  10. Fannie Mae and Frango Mints from Marshall Fields–boy, did you bring back the memories, Dave. Perhaps your wife will remember their spectacular store in Downtown Chicago. Who would have thought THEY’d go out of business?! My grandmother sometimes had those mints. What a glorious treat! P.S. Do you put your Thin Mint cookies in the freezer and eat them cold?!

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    1. My wife is a Chicago girl so she was my introduction to Fannie Mae. Her very favorites are their vanilla butter creams. I think FM still has a flagship store (and impressive cactus garden) on the outskirts of Las Vegas. A box of Frango Mints always made me feel a little more sophisticated. You won’t find Thin Mints in my freezer BUT my mother-in-law is all about storing York Peppermint Patties that way. She claims the freezer removes all of the calories 🙂

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