In the rolling hills of the North Hampshire countryside, where the air is crisp and the seasons set the pace, something unexpected grows. Not just peppermint but a revival.
On this farm - the one Summerdown has called home for decades - rows of Black Mitcham peppermint stretch across the fields, its sharp, bright scent rising on warm air. It is hard to imagine now, but a century ago this very variety was native to England. Then it all but disappeared.
In the early 1990s, Sir Michael Colman and Ian, Summerdown’s Master of Mint, went looking for it.
For generations, the Colman family had been drawn to bold, unapologetic flavours. Once it was mustard. But following a trip to America, Sir Michael tasted Black Mitcham peppermint - piercing, pure, intensely nostalgic - and recognised something England had lost. In that moment he decided that he wanted everyone to share the same experience he had - so he returned home to Summerdown with a few precious cuttings.
Like most things, it began small, on a patch no larger than a tennis court. Black Mitcham is notoriously difficult to grow - demanding patience, research and no small amount of faith. Working alongside Ian, Sir Michael nurtured those first plants carefully, season after season, allowing them to adapt to Hampshire’s soil and sky.
And it did.
Today, around 100 acres of English peppermint grow on the farm. Every single plant is descended from those original cuttings. Over time the mint has acclimatised completely, developing a flavour and aroma that are refined, rounded, unmistakably our own. The oil distilled at Summerdown is exceptionally pure - unique enough to transform chocolate, elevate tea, uplift homes, inspire makers and proudly redefine what people think peppermint is like.
This is not peppermint grown for speed. It is grown for character.
That’s the difference heritage makes. Summerdown is shaped by generations of English growers and by a commitment to time-honoured craft. Everything happens here, on this land. The planting. The harvesting. The distilling. The care. Working to nature’s rhythms means taking time, doing what’s right, and looking after soil, people and planet alike.
Peppermint, the wonder herb, has
been valued since Egyptian times for its remarkable properties - to
refresh, to restore, to revive.
You haven’t really experienced peppermint until you’ve tasted and smelt it grown, distilled and bottled where it belongs. And what emerges from these fields is more than flavour and scent. It’s a pause.
A square of chocolate that stops a busy
afternoon in its tracks. A breath of clean, cool fragrance that clears the mind. A night spent in a shepherd’s hut on the farm, where the scent of mint drifts through the evening air. Summerdown crafts moments that lift you out of the everyday and return you to yourself.
There’s generosity here, too. The same oil used in Summerdown’s own creations is shared with makers who care about craft as deeply as the farmers who grow it. Every product, every experience carries the same intention: to give the very best of what this place can offer - something worthy of gifting, worthy of sharing, worthy of your time. Because time is precious. And in a world that moves too fast, our Hampshire peppermint fields remind us that some things are better grown slowly.
This is the story of Black Mitcham coming home and of a farm that grows it with care, so that you can make the most of the moments that matter.
