Angelica also known as, Holy Ghost, wild celery, and Norwegian angelica, is a biennial plant from the Apiaceae family. Cultivated for its sweetly scented edible stems and roots an ideal botanical for gin and other liquors. Angelica gives earthy herbal flavours such as wormwood and celery.

The roots and seeds are used to flavor liqueur and vermouth. Although distillers love to keep their recipes a secret, take a swig of Strega, Chartreuse, Galliano, and other such Italian and French herbal liqueurs and see if you do not taste the indescribably fresh, bright, green flavor of angelica.

The common variety of Angelica used in gin has been cultivated as a vegetable since at least the 10th century in Northern Europe. Often, the root is used in gin, owing to its intense, fragrant odor, though others parts, including the seeds, may be used. Angelica archangelica is native to a large portion of subarctic Europe and Northern Hemisphere. The plants can be quite tall, growing up to 8 or 9 feet. The plant comes from the same family as celery, fennel and caraway. Owing to its ubiquity, the plant has been a common ingredient in gin for centuries, and often forms part of the base accord of juniper + coriander + angelica that most gins begin from.