I have to admit that Celery Soda is not exactly a normal sounding recipe.  While watching Alton Brown whip together this recipe on Good Eats, my first thought was, “Celery WHAT?”  My incredulity notwithstanding, the idea took hold.

And boy did it ever take hold.  My brain kept trying to imagine how a syrup steeped with celery seeds would taste.  It’s not that it was a huge investment in time, resources or money.  It was just two measly tablespoons of celery seed, two cups of sugar and a cup of water. I enjoyed tossing around the idea of the soda almost more than I wanted to make it.  But make it I did.

And I could kick myself for waiting so long.

It’s not good.

It’s great.

It’s more complex than I ever imagined it to be.  Trying to nail down the flavors for description is like trying to get boys into the bath tub.  In a word?  Elusive.  Two words?  Elusive and slippery.  Every time you think you have it it evades you.  But I’ll try.  For you all, I’ll try.

The first impression is not of the sweetness, although it’s right there; your first sense of the syrup is the light smell of celery.  It’s not quite identifiable as celery; it’s a fresh, herbal scent.  And it smells more of celery than it tastes of it.  That light, fresh, herbal taste  is present, but if you didn’t know it was made from celery seed you might not be able to call it.  The biggest ‘A-ha!” moment from the whole experience is that the subtle tongue-tingling feeling that you get when you eat celery is there when you sip the syrup mixed with soda water.  Even that is more of a lower case “Is this celery?” than it is a “Hey!  Celery!”

What is not elusive and slippery about this is how refreshing it is.  My word.  A tall glass of this on a hot day and the world will melt away while you stay cool.  Not as cool as a cucumber but as cool as celery. It cools you on a cellular level.  This is going to be my secret weapon during the dog days this summer.  That is, if we ever get dog days…

According to Alton Brown, the celery syrup in this recipe is invaluable in mixing cocktails.  Feel free to wing it.  Let me know if you come up with something wild and wacky and mixological.  Maybe you’ll invent the newest cocktail craze.  Could happen.  All because of this syrup.

I probably don’t need to tell you this, but I will anyway; this is so much better for you than most off-the-shelf sodas you can buy.  And it’s almost sinfully less expensive than the fancy-pants gourmet and all-natural sodas that are available.  We’re talking about pennies per glass here.  No funky additives, no High Fructose Corn Syrup, no wacky extracts or bizarro unpronounceable ingredients.  Okay, some might argue that Celery Soda is -at the very least- unusual or exotic, but it’s refreshing and really dadburned good!

Psst.   There’s one other thing.  But it’s for adults-only.  I’ve been told by a reliable source that celery (in all it’s forms) has some potent aphrodisiac effects;  so use with caution.  Or without.  Wink wink.

Now you might print this one and  put it in the pile of recipes to try or file it away or bookmark it.  I’m all about that.  But don’t let the hot months get away from you before you try this.

Celery Soda

Scroll to the bottom of this post for an easy print version of this recipe.

from Alton Brown

Ingredients:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup of water
• 2 Tablespoons of freshly crushed (lightly) celery seed
• chilled unflavored seltzer or soda water

Stir the sugar and water together in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat until sugar is fully dissolved.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the celery seeds.  Cover the pan and steep, off of the hot burner, for one hour.

After an hour, it is time to strain.  Line a fine-mesh sieve or colander with dampened fine cheesecloth or coffee filters.  Pour the syrup into the strainer.  If you need to do this in stages, do so, but try not to overflow your cheesecloth or coffee filters as this will allow celery seeds into the syrup.

That wouldn’t be a disaster, but it would at a possibly undesirable textural element to your syrup.  Pour the syrup into a jar, fit on a tight lid and chill completely before use.

To mix a soda:

Pour 2 Tablespoons of chilled syrup into a tall glass with about 1/4 cup of chilled seltzer or soda water.  Stir well to combine so that the syrup is fully integrated into the soda.  Add ice to the glass and fill the rest of the glass with more chilled soda.  Serve immediately.  Ah!

Store unused syrup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to six months.  That’s right!  It lasts for six whole months!