Description and usage notes:
First isolated by Bush Boake Allen (now part of IFF) and notoriously difficult to buy in small quantities. Here at 1% in DPG, this is geosmin bought pure from IFF, diluted by Pell Wall and still so strong it must be used with caution.
We recommend you dilute to 0.1%, 0.01% or less for blending.
Geosmin is the scent of warm earth, a freshly ploughed field, the first rain after a dry period (also known as petrichor), damp and deceptively powerful. Geosmin doesn’t seem particularly strong when you sniff the 1% solution, or even the 10% solution, but even a few drops can fill the room with the scent of turned earth.
Traces in a fragrance can give you a unique effect and greatly increase diffusion. There really isn’t anything else like Geosmin, even though other materials like 2-ethyl fenchol have a superficially similar scent.
According to Brown University: “Geosmin, which literally translates to ‘earth smell’ was scientifically identified more than 100 years ago. In soil, bacteria produce the chemical compound. In water, blue-green algae make it. Along with the pleasant scent of warm, moist soil, geosmin is also responsible for the muddy ‘off’ taste in some drinking water. That is why the substance is of interest to water purification experts and even vintners, who want to keep the benign but pungent substance out of their wine.” You can read more about the production of geosmin by soil bacteria and why they make in this article on The Conversation.
For those working on a larger scale, we also offer Geosmin at 10% in DPG and we can usually offer limited amounts of the pure product: please contact us for availability and pricing if that’s what you need.
Documents
Safety Data Sheet (note this SDS relates to the pure material, hazards are naturally reduced by dilution in DPG)
G (verified owner) –
Truly potent. Unmistakeable petrichor, like having weather in a bottle
Came with Sylvamber gratuity for a thought provoking complement. Woody, natural, warm and nostalgic
carlos silva (verified owner) –
Very potent…smells like wet earth after a rain.
Amazing .
lucapoier10 (verified owner) –
very intense (even at 1%) [in my knowledge on of the lowest Odor detection thresholds]-earthy-beetrooty – Petrichor (rain smell) – mouldy (like an old cellar with stone walls and dirt floor)
kevin (verified owner) –
Very happy with purchase , this stuff is powerful smelling and it smells like damp woodland soil and very natural .
There are dry mineral notes too which reminds me of the soil under the shed .
recommended for people who love the smell of earth after rain , this is the exact fragrance .
Was also sent a free sample of another nice earthy fragrance called Verdol and delivery was quick .
chris1 (verified owner) –
You need to smell this (even if you don’t end up using it) it’s wonderful. As everyone else says, it’s the aroma of fresh rain on the earth after a dry spell.
The oddest thing is that it doesn’t seem to smell very strongly but If you dilute it it doesn’t seem to make much difference! Diluted ten times (to 0.1%) it smells about the same to me, and at 0.01% it’s still very noticeable. I’m sure this would make it very hard to blend.
Jill (verified owner) –
My first package lost in the mail. I told Pell Wall, and they immediately sent me a new package, including a sample of sylvamber! Very impressed. Note for candle makers that although pure geosmin (a terpenoid) should dissolve in oily matrix like wax and burn when lit, the DPG solvent is not miscible with wax. Still looking for suitable geosmin source for candles. But the Pell Well preparation is fabulous. Pure and exactly the scent of just-rained / turned soil.
Oliver Prime (verified owner) –
Everything has already been said – just want to emphasize that at 1 % it is way too strong and overpowering. Prepare to use it at 0.1 % or, yes, as in the description even 0.01 %. Great material. When my parcel of 40+ aromas arrived, I could smell it already without opening the whole thing 😀 Who orders 500 g of this??
melchiorum (verified owner) –
Truly amazing material that requires extreme care and accuracy.
Essential for creating a distinctive petrichor note when used in trace amounts. When smelled in high concentrations it may not appear too potent, but don’t let it fool you – it is very easy to overdose and it easily overpowers other materials, piercing right through them with moldy, unpleasant smell of a dank cellar. Pretty much requires dilution to 0.1%, unless you are creating a large batch of perfume.
When used in right amounts, on the other hand, it is truly wonderful and irreplaceable! I used it to create an autumn forest themed perfume, and the results were incredible. Geosmin plays so well with woody, grassy and leafy notes, allowing the creation of an authentic accord of cool forest underbrush. Adding fresh ozonic notes and floral accords will transport you into a post-thunderstorm summer meadow. Could even be useful for marine, oceanic fragrances.
This is a superpower, undoubtedly. Use it wisely!