While living in the Middle East, I noticed my roommates used mint ALL the time. They'd rinse leaves, and simply leave to try between two sheets of paper towels for about three days. Then they'd crumble them to use on cucumber salads, etc. I do it all the time now ;)

forgot to mention--fresh mint leaves are used in bunches brewed with black tea and plenty of sugar. yum.

We just hang them from something. Like the doorhandel of an unused door (the door between our sitting and dinning room is always opened, so thats perfect). Apart from using them for tea (you can just use them pure or mix them with black or green tea and sugar if you want) you can also use them to cook, look for Turkish and Arabic recipes (maybe some Indian too?)

I merely forget my herbs in the refrigerator and they dry perfectly. Well, I also use my dehydrator or my microwave sometimes but it doesn't work nearly as well or as gently as the cold dry air of the fridge.

As long as they herbs aren't suffocating in a plastic bag (they'll just rot that way) the fridge works great. If I didn't live on such a busy street I'd dry them out in the sun like my grandmother did.

I hang mine to dry from the knobs on kitchen cabinets I don't use frequently. Once they are dry, they get put into ziploc bags in the pantry. My goal is to get one of those old fashioned wall mount towel racks and dry the herbs on there in a closet or something.

You don't have to dry the herbs to use them for tea. Simply brew them, either alone or in addition to your black tea.

I dry herbs the way funlinlin does. I just use an elastic band to bind the stems together, then I hang them in my pantry.

I think dried mint as a gift would be really nice! I wouldn't even bother with finding fillable tea bags. I'd pair the tea with a cute vintage tea cup and tea leaf infuser (there are so many cute options for these now!) or a tea pot with a built in tea leaf infuser and make them part of the gift.

I wash my mint and put it in the salad spinner to dry. Then I put it on metal cooling racks to air dry or place the racks on sheet pans and put them in my gas oven (the pilot light is warm enough to dry them without turning the oven on) overnight. I read that lemon balm doesn't dry well (it looses too much of its flavor) but I haven't tried it to see if that's true. Good luck.

I concur with the comment above - you can steep the fresh sprigs in boiling water for about 5 minutes, then remove the sprigs, and have a soothing yet refreshing cup of mint tea.

I've only had success drying a moist herb like lemon verbena by tying the stems and hanging the bunch from our stove hood vent with a little magnet while I had the oven on. The herb dries quickly, but gently. Otherwise, I've only had moldy disappointment.

Of course you don't have to dry the mint to use it! You can use fresh mint for tea as well as for cooking. Really, in summer we only use fresh mint. However, I thought the question was about how to dry mint to keep it longer, so that you can still use it in winter or give it as a gift.

Don't dry them, use them fresh.

Use plain clear glass mugs, and stuff fresh herb leaves and stalks into about 1/3 to 1/2 of the mug, and pour hot water. Sweeten as desired, or add a slice of fruit (orange, apple, lemon).

It's not only lovely to look at, but delicious. Here in Switzerland, tisanes like this are available at the highway food stops, Marché and Movenpick.

what do you think about drying large amounts of herbs with warm air(115*F) from a blower(heat exchange), same way as we do our precious specialty coffee beans ? Would fragrance be lost, taken from herbs by the blown air ?