Peppermint Schnapps is simple to make at home.  Like anything else, there are many ways to do it, so below you can find a “quick and easy” recipe, and a slightly more involved recipe.

Quick and Easy Recipe

This simple recipe is made with easy-to-find ingredients and takes about 20 minutes to prepare.

  • 10 cups water
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 oz. peppermint extract
  • 1 liter pure grain alcohol (such as everclear)
  • 2 glass bottles (1 liter each, thoroughly rinsed and cleaned)

First, bring the water to a boil in a pot on the stove.  While the water is boiling, pour in the sugar a little at a time while stirring.  Stir the mixture until all of the sugar has been disolved, then let it boil for another 5 minutes.  Remove from the stove, then add the pure grain alcohol to the hot syrup you’ve just made, stirring so that it mixes.  Add the peppermint extract, and stir once again.  Let the mixture cool, then pour it into the glass bottles.

Place the bottles in the freezer for two weeks.  Don’t worry: because of the grain alcohol, the mixture won’t freeze on you.  If you don’t have a freezer, no problem- you can just stick it in any old cool, dark place in your house.  What’s important is too keep it out of direct sunlight and heat.

The “More Involved” Recipe

The slightly more involved recipe is similar to the easy recipe, but instead of using peppermint extract, you can create your own flavor from steeping actual peppermint leaves.

Take 2 cups of peppermint leaves, picked from the garden or newly purchased from the supermarket, and clean them thoroughly with water.  After letting them dry, place them in a glass container with the pure grain alcohol.  Let the leaves steep in the alcohol for one week, in a cold dark place (not the freezer).

After a week, remove the leaves from the alcohol using a filter.  Follow the steps in the recipe above, then instead of using peppermint extract and pure grain alcohol, use the steeped mixture that you’ve created instead.  If you find the flavor is not minty enough, or is too minty, you can adjust the mixture to suit your taste.