Direct Keel Mint

From the Latin directus, straight — used as a color modifier since the eighteenth century for hues that read as straightforward and unambiguous. Direct red, direct green: moderate-to-high saturation combined with optical clarity. Sits at the crisp-bucket center alongside clear and frank.

Old Norse kjölr, keel. As a color modifier, keel implies a longitudinal-bottom-spine-of-ship quality, the visual register of Tall-Ship-and-Royal-Navy-Keel hand-laid longitudinal-bottom-spine timber-and-iron-keel tall-ship-and-frigate maritime-architecture surfaces under hull-and-keel maritime hull-bottom light. Sits at the modifier-and-nautical end of the grid, parallel to hull and spar in usage.

The genus Mentha — peppermint, spearmint, apple mint, water mint — the cooling herb whose menthol gives it that quality at the molecular level. The color refers to fresh peppermint leaves before drying: a clean, slightly cool green with the matte finish of trichome-rich leaf surface. Lighter than basil, cooler than parsley, with the mojito-and-Pimm's association of a herb tied to summer drinks across two continents.