Osha root taste is earthy and warming, with a sharp, celery-like bite that arrives a second after the first drop. If you have just bought a bottle of Bear Root, or you are about to, that is the short answer. The longer one involves a carrot-family plant, a compound shared with celery, and a smell that one plant guide compares to butterscotch.
Osha (Ligusticum porteri) is a mountain plant that grows at 1,500 to 3,500 metres. Mara's Bear Root is a mountain plant of Northern Mexico, and the flavour in the bottle comes straight from its root. For the full story of the plant, read our guide to osha root.
What does osha root taste like?
Put a dropper of Bear Root under your tongue and the first thing you get is earth. Think of the smell of a forest floor after rain, or the skin of a parsnip. Within a few seconds a warmth spreads across the mouth, and then the celery note comes through, sharp and green, stronger than any celery stalk you have eaten.
The herbalist Christopher Hobbs lists osha's taste as acrid and spicy, with a warm temperature. Herbalists use "warm" as a category, and you can feel it in practice too. The finish is resinous and a little bitter, close to the bitterness of a good herbal liqueur, and it fades after half a minute or so.
People who like strong flavours (black coffee, dark chocolate, ginger beer, gin with a lot of botanicals) tend to like osha straight away. People who prefer sweet drinks usually prefer it stirred into something, which is easy and covered further down.
Why it tastes like celery
Osha belongs to the carrot and parsley family, Apiaceae, the same family as celery, parsley, fennel and lovage. Lovage is a close relative, and Wikipedia's lovage entry describes its flavour and smell as reminiscent of celery and parsley, "only more intense and spicier than either." That line works for osha too.
The shared character comes from a group of aroma compounds called phthalides. In a 2006 study of celery aroma, Kurobayashi and colleagues found that four phthalides were major contributors to the overall smell of celery leaves and stalks. Osha root carries its own phthalide, Z-ligustilide, at 0.15 to 2.5% of the root. When Durić and colleagues extracted osha root oil in 2020, ligustilide made up 3.74% of it, and osha gave the highest oil yield of the four roots they tested.
Root age changes the strength. Osha plants are often more than 10 years old when the root is dug, and roots of older plants are stronger and more bitter than young ones. That is part of why osha tastes so much fuller than a supermarket vegetable from the same family.
What does osha root smell like?
Open the bottle and the smell reaches you before the dropper does. It is spicy and resinous, with a heavy celery note and something sweet underneath. Wikipedia's entry on Ligusticum porteri describes the root as having a characteristic odour similar to butterscotch and celery. The osha entry on Encyclopedia.com calls it a sweet, celery-like smell found across the whole plant, in the seeds and flowers as well as the root.
In the mountains the scent carries. The plants are noted for smelling like celery, particularly after frosts, and the leaves give off an intense fragrance when bruised. Bears are drawn to it too. Wikipedia notes the plants are relished by bears.
The butterscotch note is easy to miss on the first sniff. Smell the dropper a second time, after the sharp top notes have lifted, and you may catch a caramel or maple-like sweetness at the back.
Osha stopped more than half the growth of the TB bacterium at the lowest concentration tested.
How people have tasted osha for centuries
The flavour is old news in the mountains. Native American and Hispanic communities in the southwest of the United States used osha for generations, and Hobbs records the custom of placing a small piece of root in the mouth and sucking it. The Rarámuri of Northern Mexico brewed it as a tea. In New Mexico a tea called chuchupate was a household staple for colds and sore throats.
The Diné tell a story of how the bear gave osha to them as a medicine, and they credit the bear with leading them to it. The Lakota name, mato tapejuta, means bear medicine. The observer Shawn Sigstedt watched Kodiak bears chew the root and rub the mash into their fur, which is where the name bear root comes from.
Getting the flavour to work for you
Bear Root is taken at 1 to 2 droppers a day. There are two ways to do it, and both are quick.
- Under the tongue. Hold 1 to 2 droppers there for 20 to 30 seconds, then swallow. You get the full earthy, celery-sharp flavour, and it is done in half a minute.
- In a drink. Stir the droppers into water, tea, juice or a smoothie. The celery note softens and the warmth stays.
The favourite is a cup of warm tea with a spoon of honey. The honey rounds off the bitter finish, and the butterscotch side of the smell comes forward. Ginger tea and chai both pair well. In a morning smoothie with banana or pineapple, the taste mostly disappears and you are left with a faint savoury warmth.
Taken straight, it becomes a small daily ritual. Keep the bottle by the kettle or on your desk and take it at the same time each day. A 50 ml bottle lasts 30 to 50 days at 1 to 2 droppers a day.
Bear Root – Osha Root Tincture
50 ml dropper bottle. Ligusticum porteri from the mountains of Northern Mexico.
Add to bagA tincture is the practical way to have it every day
Dried osha root is hard, woody and fibrous. To get anything from it you need to cut it, grind it or simmer it, and the amount changes every time. A dropper measures the same dose each morning, with no knife, no grinder and no pot on the stove.
Freshness is the other reason. The aroma compounds that give osha its smell and flavour are volatile, which means they leave the root over time once it is exposed to air and light. Bear Root is a tincture, an alcohol extract of the root, sealed in dark Miron glass. Dark amber glass is a step in the right direction, and dark Miron glass is the gold standard, which is what Mara uses. The last dropper in the bottle tastes like the first.
Ingredients are simple: premium quality extract. If you want osha as a hot drink, our post on making bear root tea covers the cup in more detail.
Bear Root considerations
The recommendation on the product page: "Contains alcohol. Not recommended during pregnancy. If you're nursing or taking medication, ask your doctor before using it."
Questions people ask
Is osha root bitter?
It has a bitter, resinous finish behind the earthy, celery-like flavour. Stirring it into warm tea with honey rounds the bitterness off.
What is osha root flavor closest to?
Lovage, its close relative in the carrot family, is the nearest match. Picture a strong celery leaf with a warm, spicy edge and a sweet, butterscotch-like note in the smell.
Why does osha smell so strong?
The root holds an aromatic oil rich in phthalides such as Z-ligustilide, the same compound family behind celery's smell. Older roots are stronger, and osha is often more than 10 years old when dug.
Can I hide the taste of Bear Root?
Yes. Stir 1 to 2 droppers into juice, a smoothie or tea with honey and the celery note fades into the drink.
