Petrichor
en.wikipedia.org16 points by bpierre 4 days ago
16 points by bpierre 4 days ago
Grew up in New Mexico and this is one of my favorite smells in the world.
That and also new pads on a swamp cooler. When you change out the swamp cooler pads every summer -- its usually in the heat, its a pain, and once you get inside the house, flick on the A/C and have a newly fixed up swamp cooler and you feel that cool air and the pine from the pads.... it's a glorious smell as well.
The summer rains were something else. Almost every afternoon at about 4 you get a quick (or not so quick) rain and suddenly the temperature has dropped 10 degrees and it's beautiful outside.
What's a swamp cooler and what are swamp cooler pads?
A "swamp cooler" is a cooler made by blowing air over water. The water absorbs heat in order to evaporate, which also increases humidity. I believe the pads are replaceable porous sponge material to increase the surface area exposed to the air.
I love this scent, but my grandma used to hate it, because she somehow was led to believe that it was coming from the sewers.
Petrichor is just olfactory umami.