Herb
Galium odoratum
S tier
Galium odoratum is sweet woodruff—whorled shade-groundcover leaves that smell of fresh hay and vanilla when dried, thanks to coumarin. Essential to German Waldmeister traditions in drinks and May wines. Use dried or briefly wilted; raw green can be grassy. Species is the true culinary/aromatic woodruff. Coumarin content means moderate use, not industrial dumping into every litre of punch.
Track this ingredient
Unit
Characteristics
Preparations
Dry InfuseJellyMay WinePunchSyrup
Traits
AromaticCoumarin Hay-VanillaHayMay WineShade PlantSweetTrue SpeciesVanilla
History
DE
European monastic and folk traditions used Galium odoratum aromatically.
DE
May wine with woodruff became a German seasonal custom.
Botany fixed Galium odoratum as sweet woodruff.
Waldmeister syrups and craft drinks revived odoratum’s fame.