What is/are your favorite smell/ smells ? Mine is bread baking.

[debm55]

[LakeArenal]

1. Oh yes.......mmmm.

Lilacs
Birthday cake/ fresh donuts.

[debm55]

4. thank you LakeArenal. I love the smell of lilacs too.

[justaprogressive]

2. Bacon cooking!

[debm55]

9. Yes, the sound of the bacon and the smell. wonderful.

[SWBTATTReg]

105. That puppy is in doggy heaven, ha ha heh!!

[Groundhawg]

3. fine rye whiskey

[debm55]

10. thank you Groundhawg. Yes it has a unique smell.

[TomSlick]

119. The smell of a good rye is astounding. I prefer the smell of a good peaty scotch.

Slainte!

[birdographer]

5. Fresh cut grass on a summer day

[debm55]

11. Yes the smell of freshly cut grass is wonderful. thank you birdographer.

[lapfog_1]

54. Interesting fact

the smell of fresh cut grass has a chemical signal that the grass emits in response to injury... in an attempt to warm other grass nearby.

The smell of fresh cut grass is essentially a "warning signal" released by the plant when it's injured, acting as a distress call to nearby plants, signaling potential danger and prompting them to activate their own defense mechanisms; this scent is produced by chemicals called "green leaf volatiles" (GLVs) which are released when the grass is cut or damaged.

[birdographer]

61. That IS interesting

And now you have ruined my favorite smell!!

Ok, I am changing my answer to the bottoms of my dogs' feet (really...I do love that smell!).

[ProfessorGAC]

97. It's cis-3-Hexenal

It's a short chain aldehyde with the double bond & carbonyl on the same isometric plane.
People are so sensitive to the odor that it takes under ¼th part per billion to detect it!
Early in career, I did a decent amount of work in flavors & fragrances.
You are spot on. The release of it is, indeed, part of the plant's defense mechanism.
There are other oxygen bearing compounds released, but this one is what we detect the best.

[electric_blue68]

115. Oh, interesting; but kind of sad bc it's a hurt/defense response. I always thought it was....

actually the aroma of chlorophyll, and I love the smell. Turns out chlorophyll has a minty smell.

And I totally associate it [cut grass] w The Return of Spring: bright green little leaves, first flowers, later crabapple trees & peonies, lighter, but full size green leaves, and then the Best Of Summer (low humidity, low 80's), full green trees, fancy roses, hydrangeas, lotuses (in botanic garden), etc.

Heh, just about any "green prompt" sends me into exulting those seasons' glorious verdency, and vivid colors, but especially during "the long, dark months" here in the more northernly States.

[ProfessorGAC]

116. Not So Much A Hurt Response, But...

..a preventative. It's really a bug repellent.
Hexenal is an unsaturated chain only 5 carbons removed from formaldehyde. Bugs, as you probably guessed, hate formaldehyde. Many of them excrete formic acid as well waste, to stay alive.
So, that defense mechanism is a deterrent to pests.
They aren't reacting to damage. The hexenal is just in there & cutting lets a ttiny bit out.

[electric_blue68]

117. Oh, good then! Ty. 👍

[CanonRay]

6. The smell of rain in the desert

Wet sage?

[debm55]

13. Thank you CanonRay. I have never experienced it , but it sounds like it wound smell great.

[LuckyCharms]

7. The wooden doorknob to the men's room on a crab fishing boat.

(Just joking, Deb)

[debm55]

15. Thank you LuckyCharms. At least you didn't say the inside of a men's room.

[CrispyQ]

8. Lilacs. In most places it means spring is here, but in CO it means spring is near.

I can't tell you how many times my lilacs just start to bloom or are in full bloom & it snows.

Years ago I worked down the street from the original Celestial Seasonings tea plant & everyday you'd stop out of your car at work & the air would smell of cinnamon or peppermint or orange or any number of other wonderful scents. It was a nice little treat before going into the office.

Since we're talking noses, fellow DUer Cattledog posted this fascinating article about dogs noses, in the Pets forum.

https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/why-taking-your-dog-on-a-sniffari-will-tire-them-out-more-than-a-walk

[debm55]

17. thank you very much for the link. I agree with the lilacs When I walk Dolly in the spring it is wonderful to smell them.

[ProfessorGAC]

101. Beta Ocimine

I actually worked on a process to make ocimine for our fragrance division early with my last company.
Lilac fragrance is really popular as a room deodorizer.
We were able to do it but the enzyme used to catalyze the reaction was expensive so end users stayed with ethyl acetate.
I used to "dazzle" people (kidding) by taking white wine and vinegar (in equal amount, but there is way more alcohol in the wine than acetic acid in the vinegar), then a drop or 2 or a sulfuric or hydrochloric acid drain cleaner.
Hold the goblet over a candle & swirl, & you get the smell of lilacs (sort of).. Definitely a pleasant, flower like odor.
Honestly, people did think it was cool! Honest!

[CTyankee]

12. cinnamon, on anything being baked.

[debm55]

18. thank you CTyankee. absolutely. cinnamon on rolls or in bread. Wonderful.

[applegrove]

14. I went on a bus tour of Europe when i was 26. The night

we were in Paris one of the girls on the trip forgot her purse at a club. Since I spoke French she and I and a few other walked the streets of Paris at 3-4-5 am retracing her steps. On every block was a bakery. The croissants and like smelled so good cooking. Just when you'd be out of range of one bakery smell you'd turn a corner and there would be another.

[debm55]

19. Thank you applegrove . that fresh baked smell is wonderful.

[catbyte]

16. Onions frying in butter and violets in the yard in springtime.

But not together, lol.

[applegrove]

20. I make corned beef hash and I love the smell of the onions and the butter.

[debm55]

22. Thank you the corned beef has a wonderful aroma.

[debm55]

21. Thank you catbyte. onions frying in butter has a very unique smell. I don;t have violets in my yard. I don't remember

the smell.

[mentalsolstice]

23. Salty sea breezes nt

[debm55]

24. Oh yes I love that smell. thank you mentalsolstice, We would go to Cape Cod every summer and experience it.

[hlthe2b]

25. Nutella (chocolate) crepes from a corner crepery stand in Paris... (yeah, really... you could smell blocks away)

and I remember from a single magic 24 hours in Paris from nearly 20 years ago.

More nostalgic: bacon cooking and wafting upstairs at my grandmother's house years ago.. Still miss her...

[debm55]

27. Thank you hlthe2b. they say that smell is the best sense to bring back memories.Thank you for sharing.

[displacedvermoter]

26. Christmas Tree and Hot Apple Cider on Xmas Eve

[debm55]

29. Yes the smells of the tree and Hot Apple cider sometimes with a cinnamon stick is wonderful. Thank you displacedmermotor

[displacedvermoter]

37. Cloves and orange slices, too!

[debm55]

46. Thank you , great smells. Thank you displacedmermoter.

[Funtatlaguy]

28. My own emissions...TMI?

[debm55]

31. Thank you Funtatlaguy. Are you talking about car emissons?

[Funtatlaguy]

32. If that makes u feel better. 😘

[debm55]

39. Hahahaha You are funny

[Funtatlaguy]

50. Some think so...others, meh.

[fmdaddio]

30. Donut shop

When I was growing up on Long Island N.Y. there was a local donut shop. They ground their own coffee and of course baked on-site. The combo of baking donuts and coffee was heavenly.

[debm55]

33. Oh yes, coffee has a unique smell. and donuts are in a group of their own ,Thank you fmdaddio

[Bayard]

34. Choc chip cookies baking,

Fresh mowed grass, pine trees, puppy breath, and of course, horse hair.

[debm55]

40. Thank you. bayard All are wonderful.

[no_hypocrisy]

35. Roast chicken

[debm55]

47. Agree. Thank you no_hypocrisy. wonderful.

[Dear_Prudence]

36. Gingerbread and ginger snaps. Mmmmm.nt

[debm55]

48. Thank you Dear_Prudence. they can fill the whole house with the aroma.

[EYESORE 9001]

38. I love the smell of the hatchets that I order from overseas

I have a thing for foreign axe scents.

[debm55]

49. thank you EYESORE 9001

[3catwoman3]

72. I see what you did there.

Very clever. Or would that be cleaver?

[EYESORE 9001]

111. I have a clleaver

I named it Beaver. Beaver the Cleaver.

[Sanity Claws]

41. Lilacs

I love the smell of lilacs via a breeze in spring.

[debm55]

44. Thank you Sanity Claws Love the smell while walking Dolly.

[WmChris]

42. Race fuel at a dirt track.

[debm55]

45. thank you WmChris. Do you you go to many races ?

[WmChris]

118. Whenever I can.

Made it to the World 100 at Eldora and Knoxville Nationals for Latemodels. We used to do speedweeks and Wildwest Shootout. I ran an open wheel modified for 10 years in the 80's and 90's. Spectating is a lot cheaper.

[Sneederbunk]

43. New mown alfalfa.

[Mad_Dem_X]

51. Roses, and freshly-mown grass.

[debm55]

53. Thank you Mad_Dem_X Love those smells.

[LastDemocratInSC]

52. Irises in bloom.

[debm55]

55. Thank you , LastDemocratinSC. such a sweet smell.

[gademocrat7]

56. Ginger blossoms

their fragrance is wonderful.

[debm55]

60. thank you dademocrat7. I have smelled wild ginder in the woods. and the smell is so nice.

[LoisB]

57. Anything lavender, frying onions, homemade spaghetti sauce, freshly dug dirt.

[debm55]

135. Thank you LoisB. I love the smell of Lavender. and you other choices.

[Polly Hennessey]

58. Must join the others who love the smell of fresh mowed

grass and lilacs. I also love the smell of my rosemary bushes when I am sitting on our side patio with the dogs and the bees are happily enjoying the rosemary bushes.

[debm55]

62. Thank you Polly Hennessey. I agree love the freshly moved grass and the lilacs. Heavenly. I have never smelled fresh

rosemary. I will have to give it a try next summer.

[surrealAmerican]

59. It's either quinces ...

... (they have this amazing fruity/floral odor), or what I used think was the "salt air" near the ocean, but now that I live next to a Great Lake, assume is a seaweed odor that you get on occasional summer days.

[debm55]

64. Thank you very much. surrealAmerican.

[debm55]

66. HAHHAHAHA. I was just going to post that. Yes they do have a beautiful smell. Thank you PinkHyacinth.

[Different Drummer]

113. ...

[debm55]

138. Thank you

[kozar]

65. Fresh vanilla beans,

I know, weird.

Koz

[debm55]

68. Oh no Koz. they are wonderful

[WestMichRad]

67. Fresh basil

The dried herb is good too.
Mmmmmmm

[debm55]

69. Thank you WestMichRad. I have only smelled the dried and even it has a wonderful smell. I once had a kitchen herb

garden but it didn't take. I might plant an herb garden outside next year.

[kozar]

71. Agreed

My favorite herb, by far.


Koz

[Niagara]

70. My favorite smells are:

zippo lighters
bonfires, but not when the bonfire smokes follows people
vanilla
maple
bbq
whole coffee beans
fresh brewed coffee

[debm55]

75. Your choices are divine especially the coffee. and I am not a coffee drinker. Love the smell though. Love all your

smells. Thank you Niagara.

[sorcrow]

73. Coffee plus others

For some reason, smell is the sense most closely associated with memory. Think of a smell and you'll rarely think of just the smell.

Bread baking. When I was a kid, the route to my aunt's house passed by a huge industrial bakery. It almost always smelled great.
Bacon cooking. Boiling sap into maple syrup, you get the sweet syrupy smell along with woodsmoke. Most anything on the grill.
And this week, apple pies in the oven.

Olfactorially yours,
Sorghum Crow

[debm55]

77. thank you sorcrow. As I was reading the memories came to me about the bacon on the stove. I love your choices. and you

are right smell is the sense that brings back memories.

[3catwoman3]

74. Lavender. Fresh peaches. Fresh oranges.

Lilacs
Garlic
Sage
Cinnamon

Chinese food while driving home from picking up takeout.

Agree wholeheartedly about bread while it is baking, and also the smell of the yeast when you first dissolve it in the warm water.

And my nurse self likes the smell of Betadine/iodine

[debm55]

78. Thank you so much 3catwoman3 :Love all your choices including the yeast. You are making me want to bake now. HAHAHAHAH

[Funtatlaguy]

76. So who won? Stinky me?👃

https://giphy.com/gifs/rainbow-unicorn-fart-Qv5DHIz21hkUo

[debm55]

82. Sorry not this time.

[Funtatlaguy]

90. Rigged! Stop The Steal!

Maricopa County Judge was paid off.

[debm55]

141. Have no idea what you are talking about.

[Gaytano70]

79. Eucalyptus

Ahhhh 😌

[debm55]

83. Oh I love the smell of Eucalyptus, A wonderful smell. Thank you Gaytano70

[VGNonly]

80. Popcorn

I make it in a pan with oil. Microwaved is crap!

[debm55]

85. Thank you VGNonly , That is the only way to make great popcorn with the wonderful taste and smell is to make in a pan.

[griloco]

81. Rotting oranges

[debm55]

86. Whatever,

[pandr32]

84. The ocean.

I grew up on the West Coast right by the ocean. Whenever we went away and came back I could lower the car window and smell the sea. It was home.

[debm55]

87. My husband is from Boston, You are so right as we approached you could smell the sea, Thank you pandr32,

[mike_c]

88. skunk

[debm55]

92. thank you, mike_c

[DUgosh]

89. Mountain Laurels in spring

[debm55]

91. Thank you DUgosh. We have mountain laurels not far from us . Wonderful smell up in the Laurel Mts in PA.

:

[malthaussen]

93. Coffee brewing, bacon frying...

... almost makes getting up in the morning worthwhile.

Honorable mention to musty old books that haven't been opened for a few centuries. You can get that in libraries and used bookstores.

-- Mal

[debm55]

94. Thank you Mal, two great smells,

[subterranean]

95. Play-Doh.

Also, freshly mown grass, German riesling wine, and petrichor.

[debm55]

96. Thank you subterranean Play-Doh and new crayons have a distinct smell to them. I also agree with your other choices.

[Elessar Zappa]

98. Bacon, baked bread, rain.

[debm55]

100. Thank you Elessar Zappa. I forgot about the rain smell. before a store.

[debm55]

99. The smell of new cars.

[madamesilverspurs]

102. Mountain rain

Especially in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. ymmmmmmm.....

Second: freshly bathed baby

.

[debm55]

106. Thank you madamesilverspurs. I agree with all. Babies have such a sweet smell.

[Ocelot II]

103. Baking bread is a good one. I also like the smell of jasmine, lilies, lilacs,

coffee, cat fur, rain on a warm sidewalk, real Christmas trees, and aviation fuel (100LL),

[debm55]

130. Terrific choices. Thank you Ocelot II, All wonderful.

[Bristlecone]

104. The smell of Creosote aka Greasewood after a rain

In the AZ desert

[debm55]

131. Thank you Bristlecone. I smells wonderful.

[MiHale]

107. Kinda silly...my wife...

[Niagara]

124. Not silly at all

Science says that another persons underlying scent can determine attraction towards them.

[debm55]

136. Beautiful post MiHale. and it's not kind of silly.

[doc03]

108. Fresh baked apple pie. nt

[ultralite001]

109. Wood smoke...

after a day of raking, burning those piles + prepping the yard for winter...

It was better than any after shave... It flavored my beloved's hair + flannel shirts...
This time of year is so bittersweet w/ his passing... yet it flavors some sweet,
sweet memories...

[debm55]

137. Thank you ultalite001. I am so sorry. Smell is the the one sense that triggers memories. I am so glad that they are

Sweet ones of your beloved.

[Codifer]

110. I have two:

First is a pipe tobacco shop and the second is the nostalgic smell of castor oil as was used in now vintage racing cars.

Years ago I drove an Alfa Romeo and one year (mid 1980s I think) it was the featured marque at the Monterey Historic Races. The historic harkened back to the days when the tires were skinny and the drivers were fat. That was the year that the Alfa Romeo factory had prepared an Alfa Tipo 51 (?) from their museum in Milano and shipped it to California so that the 72 year old Juan Fangio (who had driven it to his fifth Grand Prix championship) could demonstrate its speed and beauty and fill the air with the shriek of a high revving straight eight.

I spent four days there camping out (and smoking a pipe). I was up early on Friday morning and wandered over to watch the warm-up session for Grand Prix cars from the twenties and thirties. I found there someone I knew; an elderly fellow named Howie who at age 80 or so more or less volunteered at a local Alfa garage so that he could run parts and generally act as a gopher just so he could be around sports cars. I had always assumed that he had had some involvement with racing cars in Europe. There was, hung about the track, the aroma of burning castor oil which I always had found so enfolded in the love and lore of fine old racing cars and their histories. On this morning session the cars were deep red Alfa P2s and light blue supercharged Bugatti 36sc and British Racing Green Sunbeams (IIRC).

When I said good morning to Howie I saw that he had tears in his eyes. He said that the vapor burned. I do not think he told me the truth.

[debm55]

139. Thank you for your great post, Codifer.

[Ziggysmom]

112. Old Books! They make you feel all warm and fuzzy, they are full of promise and yet calming.

[Different Drummer]

114. I have quite a few.

Freshly mown grass
Frying bacon
Brewing coffee
Irish Spring soap
Coast soap
Magnolias
Honeysuckles, even though they are nuisance plants.

[debm55]

140. Thank you very much Different Drummer. Great list of smells

[Different Drummer]

142. Forgot to mention cedar. n/t

[petronius]

120. Dry pine needles in the sunshine... (nt)

[debm55]

133. Thank you petronius. I agree we have a pine tree in our backyard.

[Tikki]

121. TABU cologne....

Actually TABU perfume which is expensive and hard to find.



Tikki

[debm55]

127. Thank you so much Tiki. I haven't seen it in some times. But it did have a unique scent.

[electric_blue68]

122. Cut grass, garlic slow sauteed in good olive oil, lots of butter melting on hot pancakes...

freshly poured hot fudge on a Sundae,
fresh baked chocolate chocolate chip brownies.

Fresh peaches [once I walked by a partly specialty food store in early in the
peach season, they'd stacked them on an outside bin right by the Entrance. A mini cloud of aroma wafted right up! I almost "swooned" they smelled so good.]

A more uncommon baking story. 😄
We - my dad, sis and I were assigned to get the freshly baked big, soft, salted
pretzels 🥨 you see with some street venders, or in a German Beer Garten for an extended family get together that weekend.

So I guess it was around 80°F+ maaaaybe closer to 85°F, but I don't think it was humid.

We go into this ? 3 story high ceiiinged bakery somewhere in The Bronx. It's got this ?10+ ft wide, ?2 1/2 ft, maybe two of them - this is like 1967, or so.
It feels like ?110°F in there!

They open the oven door. Steam rises! There's more than a ? hundred & fifty pretzels in there! Smelled sooo toasty! 😄
They shovel a bunch into 2, maybe 3 big brown paper shopping bags! We carry them back to the trunk of our car; which after 110°F inside; 80°F - 85°F feels coolish!

Dad lets us each have a still warm pretzel. Crunchy outside, soft inside. Felt like magic! 🥰

Finally the fir, or pine tree smell near, and at Christmas time on the streets of NYC when the tree sellers come down. More magic!

[debm55]

126. Thank you so much for your post, electric_biue68 , The way you described them, I could sell them here.

[OldBaldy1701E]

123. So, this certainly gives away where I was raised.

The ocean.

Also, the smell of curing tobacco is so awesome. I no longer smoke tobacco, but the curing of it is still the best smell. I used to love driving around Durham in the fall because of this.

[debm55]

125. Thank you very much OldBaldy1701E Yes the smell of the ocean. is unique. I never smelled curing tobacco..

[Botany]

128. Labrador puppy breath

Link to tweet

/photo/1

[debm55]

129. Thank you Botany. Yes indeed. puppy breath

[jimfields33]

132. Bread for sure. Bacon second.

[debm55]

134. Thank you jimfields33. Two terrific smells.