The Proper End to a Great Meal – Bendicks Mints

Mar 4, 2022 by Chef David

By Chef David

The image of wrapped chocolate mint candies elicits an aura of sophistication, an elegant way to end your meal, or the quintessential pillow topper in a luxury hotel.  Mints have a way of making you salivate, evoking a refreshing smell and sensation. The distinctive minty taste can be described as sweet, producing a lingering cool effect. Mints aid in both digestion, and relaxation, which explains the long-standing relationship between mints and dining. Many kosher diners opt for herbal mint teas to finish up their fleishig meals, leaving them minty fresh.

I discovered the kosher pareve chocolate mint from Bendicks (under the supervision of the Kosher London Beit Din) which hits the spot, providing both the sweet and refreshing flavors.

The Link Between Mints and Digestion

The connection between mint and digestion dates back to one of the oldest surviving medical texts in the world, the ancient Egyptian Ebers Papyrus from 1550 BC. Mint is a type of plant (Mentha genus) that has over 600 varieties. Peppermint, commonly used in candies, is native to Europe. It is a cross between watermint and spearmint. Peppermint has a high percentage of menthol, as much as four times the amount found in spearmint.

Menthol provides the link between mint and digestion. It is the oil that produces a cool fresh mint flavor. Menthol is responsible for the cold feeling, stimulating receptors in our brain used to sense cold. When a chemical compound in food activates senses other than taste, it is called chemesthesis, which is how menthol tricks your mouth to perceive cold. The menthol lingers on taste buds, keeping that cool sensation going, a sensation that is reactivated by sipping water. We equate this feeling as refreshing, and clean, which is why mints are included in many oral hygiene products, gums, and, yes, after-dinner mints.

Ingesting menthol promotes digestion, by encouraging the flow of bile that aids in digestion and calms the abdominal muscles it allows gas to pass more easily and reduces indigestion. Smelling mint is also linked to increased alertness, decreased levels of anxiety, and is an effective decongestant.  Menthol is also used as an expectorant to loosen mucus from the lungs. Which gives us an idea about the power of mint.

Mint contains trace elements of potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, and vitamins C and A.

The Most Intense Chocolate Mint You’ll Want to Eat

Benedicks originated in London and has over 90 years of experience producing the perfect chocolate-covered mint, blending high-quality dark chocolate infused with soothing peppermint. Focused on producing the singularly most perfect mint, and in my opinion, they achieved it, winning high praise on both sides of the Atlantic. Unlike many of the candy manufacturers which I have grown accustomed to in the US, who produce an endless number of overly sweet treats, Bendicks specialized in producing the most intense chocolate mints which they rightfully refer to as ‘quintessentially British dark mints’, flavor, freshness without overpowering sweetness. They produce only four varieties, Bittermints, Elizabethan Mints Fondants (named to celebrate HM Queen Elizabeth II), Mint Crisps, and Dark English Mints.

Bittermints are their original recipe from 1931 consisting of an intense mint center covered in thick 95% dark chocolate. The center is packed with an intense mint flavor, from infused mint oil, with almost too powerful, and the chocolate is almost too bitter to eat on its own, but together they are magnificent. And the fragrance, undeniably minty, builds anticipation for the sweet to come.

Where Bittermints has a solid center, Elizabethan Mint Fondants contain a softer peppermint center encased in dark chocolate, its flavor is a bit less intense, more relaxed but equally satisfying. Mint Crisps are melt-in-your-mouth, coin-shaped dark chocolate infused with peppermint oil. My personal favorite is the Dark English Mints, a dark chocolate stick infused with peppermint oil. It consists of high-quality dark chocolate with a refreshing minty flavor.

Individually and collectively, Bendicks chocolates are refined and delicious, making the perfect ending for fine dining, or an ideal after-meal treat.

Combined with Dark Chocolate

Coupling mint with dark chocolate increases its health benefits, dark chocolate is 50% to 99% cocoa solids, offering a distinctive flavor profile, and with associate health benefits including lowering blood pressure, improving heart health, reducing cholesterol, and promoting the growth of friendly bacteria making it a superfood which promotes gut health.

For the kosher consumer dark chocolate can be parve, as Benedicks is, satisfying American emotional chocolate craving without being overpoweringly sweet, dark chocolate has a bitterness, that combined with peppermint provides a satisfactory finale to any meal, cleansing the palate. This flavor profile might be described as distinctly British, a refined way to finish a meal, leaving my palate with a clean, fresh taste.

Humble Beginnings

Bendick’s chocolates story began in 1930, in Kensington, London where Mr. Oscar Benson and Colonel ‘Bertie’ Dickson acquired a small confectionery business. A year later Lucia Benson, the founder’s sister-in-law created a new mint chocolate recipe, a mint fondant that was almost too strong, thickly covered in 95% cocoa solids chocolate, which was almost too dark, which they named Bittermint.  They were awarded a Royal Warrant by Her Majesty the Queen, a mark of recognition, and acknowledgment of their impeccable quality.

Bendicks can be purchased online for Wholesale inquiries please email the Bendicks team at general@uk.storck.com

I recommend the Mint Collection box, a sampler of the distinctive Bendicks mints. Try it, and experience the mouthwatering, quintessentially British chocolate mints, you’ll be glad you did.