A leafy celery stick in a Bloody Mary is par for the course, and celery bitters have been dashed on cocktail recipes dating back to the 19th century. But the humble vegetable can be much more than a garnish.

Danny Childs, bartender at the Farm and Fisherman Tavern in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, knows this well: For his Cel Rey, which is inspired by the smoky-savory union of a deli pastrami sandwich washed down with Dr. Brown’s iconic celery soda, he developed his own fermented celery tonic to top mezcal. The result is an infinitely adaptable highball formula. (If spending several days nurturing a ginger bug for a DIY soda sounds daunting, a similar effect can be achieved by adding a few dashes of celery bitters to store-bought Cel Rey.)

Others take a simpler approach by sticking with plain celery juice. Herbal and vegetal spirits like gin and tequila harmonize particularly well with the savory ingredient; the Celery Gimlet is bursting with verdant flavors thanks to the juice, green Chartreuse and St. Germain, while the Margarita Verde employs celery’s savoriness (and lightly cooling quality) to temper green bell peppers and Tabasco. Another Margarita-like drink, the Koji-San, employs celery juice as a bright, alluring float on top of the drink. Finally, combining the juice with sugar for an easy-to-make sweetener is the key to the Alligator Arms, a low-proof drink pairing vermouth and absinthe.

But the easiest way to harness the power of celery is to throw it directly in the shaker. To make Ma Cherie, a savory, sessionable aperitif, a 1-inch piece of celery gets muddled in the tin just before shaking. A triple threat of umami thanks to the muddled vegetable, fino sherry and several dashes of saline solution make the cobbler a low-proof, yet still complex, cocktail.

For perhaps the most show-stopping way to put the vegetable at center stage, though, consider the Bloody Mary from London’s iconic Connaught Bar. The bar riffs on the typical celery stalk garnish by finishing the brunch drink with a float of “Celery Air,” a fluffy mix of fresh celery juice, lecithin (a soy product commonly used for foams and emulsions) and celery salt that get whipped together in a blender. As the forthcoming Connaught Bar recipe book puts it, the move “adds another layer of texture and freshness to a timeless classic.”