Muña (Andean Mint): What It Is, How to Brew It, and What It’s Used For
There is a shrub in the Peruvian highlands that smells like mint when you brush past it on a trail. Locals call it muña. It has been in the same kitchens and the same home remedies for centuries — after a heavy meal, on cold mornings at altitude, in the pot with the potatoes.
If you arrived here because a label said “Andean mint” and you wanted to know what that actually is, this is the honest version.
What muña is
Muña is Minthostachys mollis, a woody shrub of the mint family that grows between 2,700 and 3,400 metres above sea level, across Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina and Venezuela. It reaches about a metre in height, and its small leaves release an intense aroma — somewhere between mint and oregano — the moment you crush them.
It goes by several names: muña, peperina, poleo de Quito, tipo, and in English simply Andean mint or Peruvian mint. In Quechua and Aymara it has a different name in almost every region, which tells you how widely it has been used.
That aroma comes from the leaf’s essential oils, chiefly mentone and pulegone. They are the reason it smells the way it does — and the reason, as we will get to, that the concentrated oil is handled very differently from the tea.
Muña and peppermint are not the same plant
They are relatives, not twins. Both belong to the Lamiaceae family and both carry that cooling, mentholated note. But Mentha piperita — peppermint — is a European plant, cultivated worldwide, and its profile is sweet and rounded.
Muña is a different genus, native to the Andes, and its profile is drier and sharper, with a herbaceous edge closer to oregano. People who expect peppermint are usually surprised on the first sip. Most of them come back.
What muña is used for
Worth saying plainly before we go on: muña is a plant of traditional use, not a medicine. What follows is how it has been used in the Andes for generations. It is not medical advice and it does not replace a diagnosis or a treatment.
After meals
By far the most common use. The infusion is taken after heavy food, and in Andean folk practice it is described as digestive and carminative. It is probably the reason most people go looking for it in the first place.
At altitude
In the Peruvian highlands it is customary to offer muña tea to visitors arriving from the coast, alongside coca leaf, during the first days while the body adjusts. Here we will be honest with you: the tea is a comfort, not a preventive. If symptoms are severe — a pounding headache, vomiting, breathlessness at rest — the answer is to descend and seek medical help, not to drink more tea.
As steam
Its mentholated aroma has long made it a plant for steam inhalation when the nose is blocked. It is the same principle as any menthol-rich plant: the vapour helps clear the airways.
In the kitchen and the store room
Beyond remedies, muña is a culinary herb in Andean soups and stews. Traditionally it was also laid among stored potatoes and tubers, because its aroma keeps insects away — a detail that says a lot about how strong that aroma is.
How to brew muña tea
The way it is actually done in the Andes, not the way a package says:
- Heat a cup of water without letting it reach a rolling boil. Water that is too hot carries off the essential oils, which are the whole point.
- Add a teaspoon of dried leaf, or a small handful of fresh leaves.
- Cover the cup and let it steep five minutes. Covering matters — uncovered, the aroma leaves with the steam.
- Strain and drink.
It is usually taken after meals. That covered cup is the single biggest difference between a weak infusion and a good one.
The leaf and the oil are two different products
This is the part that causes real confusion, and it matters.
The tea is a gentle infusion of leaves. The essential oil is the concentrated extract of the same aromatic compounds, obtained by steam distillation — many times more concentrated than a cup of infusion.
For that reason the essential oil is not drunk. It is used for aroma: in a diffuser, in steam, or diluted in a carrier oil for external use. Same plant, two products, and treating them alike is the most common mistake we see.
When not to drink muña
The section almost nobody writes properly, and the one that matters most.
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding. Pulegone, one of its main constituents, is not advised during pregnancy. This is the most consistently repeated caution in the literature on this plant, and the most important one here.
- Daily, prolonged use. Occasional is the sensible pattern. The same compounds that make it aromatic can be irritating in high, sustained doses.
- Young children. Ask a paediatrician first.
- Ongoing medication or liver conditions. Talk to your doctor before adding it.
And the rule that applies to any plant: natural does not mean inert, and it does not mean it will not interact with what you are already taking.
Frequently asked questions
Is muña the same as peppermint?
Related, not the same. Both are mints; muña is a distinct Andean genus with its own aromatic profile — drier, with a hint of oregano.
Can I drink it every day?
Occasional use is the sensible pattern. See the section above on when not to drink it.
Where does it grow?
The Andean highlands, between 2,700 and 3,400 metres. It is a plant of altitude — it does not grow on the coast or in the lowland jungle.
What does it taste like?
Mint, with a dry, faintly oregano-like edge. Less sweet than peppermint.
Does muña cure gastritis?
No. It is used traditionally for digestive discomfort, but gastritis has specific causes — H. pylori, medication, alcohol, stress — that need a diagnosis. An infusion can accompany treatment; it does not replace it.
Working with muña
At Amazon Andes we distil muña essential oil at origin in the Peruvian Andes — steam-distilled from leaf and flowering top, 100% pure and undiluted, bottled in 10 ml.
Muña Andean Peppermint Essential Oil →
It is the oil, not the leaf — for a diffuser, for steam, or diluted in a carrier oil. Not for internal use.
If you are looking for muña essential oil in volume or under your own brand, it is produced by Munay Ki Perú, part of the same family of Peruvian producers.
This article is informational and describes traditional uses. It is not medical advice and does not replace consultation with a health professional.
Related products
