Hyssop vs. Lavender: Two Mint-Family Herbs With Different Chemistry and Uses

Hyssop leans savory and resinous; lavender leans sweet and perfumed. They’re both mint-family herbs, but neither copies the other. Hyssop’s leaves are strongly aromatic and a bit bitter; culinary lavender is a flower bud that tastes floral and sweet, and turns soapy if you overdo it. Their oils share almost nothing at the top, either: hyssop’s is led by pinocamphone and pinenes, lavender’s by linalool and linalyl acetate.¹² A swap only partly works, and the oils themselves should never be swapped at all.

Side by side

For each herb in depth, see hyssop and lavender.

Which hyssop, and which lavender?

Both names cover more than one plant, and that changes the comparison.

• Hyssop. The culinary herb is Hyssopus officinalis, which Kew now lists as Dracocephalum officinale.³ Anise hyssop is a different plant, Agastache foeniculum, native from Canada to the northwestern and north-central United States.⁹ Same family, different genus. The “hyssop” of the Bible is a third question; Britannica says it wasn’t Hyssopus officinalis.¹⁰ See hyssop for that story.
• Lavender. Lavandula is a genus of about 30 species. For cooking, the Herb Society of America calls L. angustifolia the most delightful species, and says lavandins and other high-camphor lavenders have a strong, astringent smell and bitter taste.⁵ Check the botanical name on the package.

Differences that change the dish

Chemistry. The two oils share almost nothing at the top. The Wolters Kluwer monograph says hyssop’s oil is mostly pinocamphone, isopinocamphone, α- and β-pinene and camphene,¹ and a 2011 review names pinocamphone, isopinocamphone and β-pinene as principal components.⁴ For lavender, a 2021 study of 13 L. angustifolia cultivars found linalool and linalyl acetate led every sample.² The Herb Society credits those two compounds for true lavender’s pleasant flavor in the kitchen, and blames the harshness of other lavenders on cineole and camphor.⁵ Neither hyssop source we could open gives percentages for its oil, so we can’t line the two up number for number.

Bitterness and strength. Hyssop is the more bitter of the two, and a little goes a long way. Overdo lavender and it turns soapy, not bitter. The Herb Society’s advice for lavender is to use less than you think and add gradually.⁵

Part of the plant. Hyssop is a leaf herb, chopped into a dish. Lavender is a bud, usually dried, and often steeped in cream, sugar or syrup and then strained out. The Herb Society’s rule of thumb is that dried buds are three times more concentrated than fresh blooms.⁵

Savory vs. sweet. Hyssop has both savory and sweet uses: meats, fish, vegetables, salads, sweets and liqueurs. The Wolters Kluwer monograph adds that extracts have flavored liqueurs, sauces, puddings and candies.¹ Lavender’s uses run mostly sweet. It’s sometimes used to flavor drinks and sweets, and the Herb Society’s list runs from cookies, cakes, custards and ice cream to lemonade and cocktails, plus savory uses in roast chicken and beef with lower-camphor lavandins alongside rosemary, sage and thyme.⁵

Health claims and safety

Medicinal claims aren’t a reason to pick one over the other.

• Hyssop. The Wolters Kluwer monograph says hyssop has many traditional uses but no clinical trial data behind them, and the 2011 review found human studies lacking.¹⁴ Britannica records a strong leaf tea sweetened with honey as a traditional remedy for nose, throat and lung complaints.¹⁰ That’s tradition, not evidence.
• Lavender. NCCIH says studies suggest a lavender oil product taken by mouth might help with anxiety, and that the benefits of lavender aromatherapy for sleep and some kinds of pain are unclear.⁸ That evidence is about concentrated oil products, not lavender in a cookie. We found no source backing lavender as a remedy for poor digestion or inflammation.
• The oils don’t swap either. The Wolters Kluwer monograph reports that commercial hyssop oils caused convulsions in rats at 0.13 g/kg, links the neurotoxicity to pinocamphone and isopinocamphone, notes case reports of seizures in adults and children, and advises against use in pregnancy.¹ Those findings are about the oil, not leaves used as a seasoning. For lavender, NCCIH says it’s likely safe in the amounts typically used in foods.⁸

Both hyssop and lavender are on FDA’s lists of spices and essential oils generally recognized as safe for their intended use.⁶⁷ We’re not claiming either herb treats or prevents any condition.

Can one stand in for the other?

Only partly. The first starting point below comes from our hyssop substitutes page; the second is ours.

• Lavender for hyssop. Lavender gives you hyssop’s floral side but none of its pine or bitterness. Use L. angustifolia sold for cooking, and add more as you go.⁵ In a savory dish, rosemary or sage covers hyssop better; see hyssop substitutes.
• Hyssop for lavender. Hyssop can cover lavender’s resinous, herbal side in a roast or a rub, but it’s more bitter and less floral, so start low. In lavender shortbread or custard it’s a poor swap. Lemon zest or edible rose petals come closer, as the lavender substitutes page explains.
• Never swap the oils. Hyssop oil isn’t a substitute for anything in food, for the reasons above.¹

What isn’t known

• No sensory study compares their strength or flavor.
• The hyssop oil sources we could open give its main compounds but no percentages.¹⁴
• We found no dated price comparison.

Related

• Hyssop, cooking with hyssop and hyssop substitutes
• Lavender, cooking with lavender, lavender substitutes, how to dry lavender and how to store lavender
• Rosemary vs. lavender and sage vs. lavender
• Herbes de Provence, rosemary, mint and sage