Green celery growing in a metal pail.
Photo: Milada Vigerova

Why the Sweet Scent of Celery Reminds Us of the Fall Harvest to Come

By Aileen Kwun
August 1, 2020
1 minute read

Early August marks the start of planting season for celery. Picked in fall and early winter, it makes for a sweet and crisp addition to salads and cocktails, juiced for (somewhat dubious, overly trending) cleansing benefits, or an easy snack on its own—though the scent of celery, curiously, is always much stronger than its taste. As a scent, celery seed essential oils have been used throughout history as an herbal medicine (in Ayurveda), as well as an aphrodisiac (due to its similarity to androsterone, a pheromone), and, it would naturally follow, as a perfume note: Demeter’s Celery cologne, Guerlain’s Mitsouko, and Monsillage’s Eau de Céleri are among the many fragrances composed around the deeply herbaceous and slightly sweet scent, which strangely reminds some of an earthier, greener maple syrup—and serves as a sensual reminder of the fall harvest season to come.