Small fruit with perfect flavour (9)

I believe the answer is:

spearmint

'flavour' is the definition.
(spearmint is a flavour)

'small fruit with perfect' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'fruit' becomes 'pear' (pear is a kind of fruit).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'perfect' becomes 'mint' (similar in meaning).
's'+'pear'+'mint'='SPEARMINT'

(Other definitions for spearmint that I've seen before include "Herb used for flavouring" , "Strongly flavoured herb" , "Aromatic plant" , "Aromatic herb" , "Garden flavouring" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian, The Times and The Telegraph.

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