Peppermint, Spearmint, or Menthol? A Mint Field Guide
There are about three dozen cans in our mint collection, and they aren't all the same kind of mint. Once you know which kind you like, you'll stop rebuying the wrong can.
Peppermint: the sharp one
Peppermint tastes like a candy cane, an after-dinner mint or toothpaste (in a good way). It has bite and a real cooling edge, and it's what most people mean by a crisp mint.
Good examples are ZYN Cool Mint (the bestselling pouch in the country), VELO Crispy Peppermint at an everyday 10mg, and VELO Freezing Peppermint when you want the bite turned all the way up.
Spearmint: the sweet one
Spearmint is the Wrigley's gum and mojito mint. It's rounder and sweeter, and next to peppermint it tastes almost like dessert. People who find Cool Mint too harsh are usually spearmint people who just don't know it yet.
Try ZYN Spearmint in 3mg or 6mg (the 3 is a nice, gentle pouch), Iceberg Sweet Mint if you want it even sweeter, or Iceberg Double Mint for spearmint with some peppermint mixed in.
Menthol: not actually a flavor
Menthol is the cooling compound, not the taste. A pouch with a lot of menthol feels colder, but it doesn't taste any mintier, and the flavor underneath can be almost anything.
For menthol, look at ZYN Menthol Ice and Icy Mint, VELO Polar Mint at 14mg, and all of Pablo's cold cans. Ice Cold and X-Ice Cold are heavy on menthol at 24mg. Frosted Ice from the Exclusive line is straight menthol with no sweetness at all.
White Fox: herbal mint
White Fox mixes eucalyptus, pine and peppermint. Herbal mint is its own category, and my post on White Fox covers why I like it so much. If every mint above sounds too sweet or too much like toothpaste, try White Fox.
Which mint to pick
If you want a crisp, classic mint, get ZYN Cool Mint, and if you want something soft and sweet, get ZYN Spearmint. The coldest option is VELO Freezing Peppermint, or Pablo if you already use strong pouches. White Fox Original is the one for something herbal and a bit unusual.
Every one of them is $9.99 a can. You can see the whole range on our mint page and filter it by strength, which is the first thing to check on any can.
WARNING: This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.
