Fresh Celery Syrup

Store in a sealed glass bottle in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. The green color will gradually fade to olive-yellow — this does not affect the flavor. Keep refrigerated.

Use the pale yellow inner stalks and the leaves — the leaves contain higher concentrations of aromatic compounds than the stalks alone and dramatically improve the flavor of the finished syrup. Blanch the chopped celery in boiling water for thirty seconds before adding to the syrup base to preserve the bright green color; without blanching, the syrup turns brown within hours as enzymes oxidize the chlorophyll. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth for a clean, pale green syrup with no fibrous material. A small pinch of kosher salt in the finished syrup amplifies the celery's savory character.

Celery (Apium graveolens) has been cultivated in the Mediterranean for over three thousand years, documented in ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman texts as both a culinary and medicinal plant — ancient Greeks used wild celery to make victory garlands and Romans consumed it as a digestive remedy. Celery's place in cocktail culture was established through the Bloody Mary, where a celery stalk garnish became a standard accompaniment to the tomato-based cocktail in American bar culture from the 1950s onward. Celery bitters were a staple ingredient in 19th-century American cocktail recipes, used in drinks including early Martini variations. The craft cocktail revival's interest in vegetable-forward savory cocktails brought celery back as a syrup ingredient, prized for the distinctive aromatic compounds phthalides and apigenin that give celery its characteristic bright, slightly bitter vegetal flavor that complements gin and aquavit particularly well.

A celery-lemon syrup, made by adding the zest of one lemon to the warm finished syrup, creates a bright, citrus-herbal variation excellent in gin cocktails and low-ABV drinks. A celery-dill syrup combining equal parts celery juice and dill fronds creates a more complex, Nordic-inspired savory syrup suited to aquavit and cucumber cocktails. For a celery-apple variation that bridges savory and sweet, replace half the water with fresh pressed apple juice.

Contains celery, which is a recognized allergen in the European Union and among the top allergens in Canada. Not classified as a top-eight allergen in the United States, but celery allergies are documented. Naturally vegan and gluten-free.