Some sweets start with a carefully planned recipe. Mr D’s Olde Sweet Shop’s new Pitman’s Peppermints started with a happy accident.

“We were actually trying to develop something completely different when one of the test batches didn’t turn out as we’d intended. But when we tasted it, there was something immediately familiar about it. It tasted like the proper old-fashioned mints our grandfathers always seemed to have.”

And that got the owners behind Mr D’s Olde Sweet Shop thinking.

Strong mints have a long association with Britain’s mining communities. After a shift spent amongst coal dust and pit air, miners would have a strong mint to freshen their mouths and help take away the lingering taste of coal. That became the starting point for Pitman’s Peppermints and, rather than trying to turn the accidental recipe back into what it was originally supposed to be, we decided it deserved to become something of its own.

“Unlike our gentler Malvern Hills Mint Drops, Pitman’s Peppermints were never meant to be subtle. They are stronger, brisker and properly pepperminty, with that clean, cooling feeling that lingers after the sweet has gone.

We wanted them to have a bit of grit about them, something that felt fitting for the miners who inspired them and the hardy communities that grew around the mines and collieries.”

 

 

 

From the Pit to the Sweet Factory

“One of the things we love when developing our sweets is discovering the connections you don’t necessarily expect, and the link between mining and confectionery is one of them.”

In many of the UK’s industrial towns, sweets were part of everyday working life. Confectioners made affordable treats for families whose lives revolved around the mines, mills and factories. A bag of sweets brought home at the end of the week, a few tucked into a pocket, or a strong mint after a shift might have been a small thing, but those are often the things people remember.

Some of that confectionery heritage is still there today.

There are former mining and industrial towns where sweets have been made for generations and are still being made now. Walk through some of them and you can still catch the smell of mints and sweets being made drifting through the streets.

We loved the idea that our Pitman’s Peppermints could be made as part of that continuing tradition.

From Seam to Surface

Mr D’s Olde Sweet Shop’s Pitman’s Peppermints are made in the UK using natural flavouring, with a recipe developed to give you that strong, old-fashioned peppermint taste that started this whole story.

But more importantly, they are a tribute to the mining communities themselves.

To the miners who went underground shift after shift. To the families waiting for them at home. To the pit villages and towns that grew around the collieries. To the clubs, brass bands, shops, pubs and factories that made those places communities.

And to everyone who still remembers a dad, grandad, uncle, brother or neighbour coming home from a shift.

“There is something very ordinary about a peppermint, and perhaps that’s why this one means something to us. A taste can suddenly remind you of somebody you haven’t seen or thought about for years.

That’s exactly how Pitman’s Peppermints began for us.”

Our Growing Collection

The Pitman’s Peppermints are also part of something Mr D’s Olde Sweet Shop has been quietly working on for a while.

The team are developing a growing collection of their own sweets, creating the recipes and working with traditional confectioners to make them. Some are inspired by the flavours, landscapes and stories closer to home, while others take us into the history of old-fashioned treats and the people and communities connected with them.

We don’t just want to put a new name on an existing sweet. We want each one to have a reason for being there, whether that starts with a local ingredient, a bit of history, an old tradition or, in this case, a test batch that went slightly wrong.

 

Pitman’s Peppermints are one of those stories, and there are plenty more to come.

Keep an eye out as we introduce more from our local and heritage collections.

In the meantime, come in and try the happy accident for yourself.

Pitman’s Peppermints

 

Made in the UK with natural flavouring, in honour of our mining communities and the generations who called them home.

Find them from Saturday 29th August at

Mr D’s Olde Sweet Shop

97a High Street

Worcester

WR1 2HW

Press here to visit the website: https://mrdsoldesweetshop.com/