Clove + Gin
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 26 recipes, and they share 47 flavor molecules: the top 24% of all ingredient pairs.
Do clove and gin go together?
Yes. 26 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 47 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 24% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
Almost everything gin carries, clove has too: 47 of gin's 56 flavor molecules also occur in clove. Among the shared key aromas are alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine) and myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
What each one brings
clove
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 17% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 7% for gin. It carries 264 molecules gin doesn't have.
gin
The tartness. Sour notes make up 20% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 12% for clove. It carries 9 molecules clove doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Cinnamon: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with clove, top 27% with gin.
- Allspice: top 1% of pairs with clove, top 31% with gin.
- Ginger: top 1% of pairs with clove, top 20% with gin.
- Nutmeg: top 1% of pairs with clove, top 26% with gin.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with clove and gin
Almost always baking: 1 of the 1 recipes with a course label are baking.
Can you swap one for the other?
Only partly. Most of gin's flavor molecules (47 of 56) are also found in clove, but clove has 264 that gin lacks. Gin gives you part of clove's character without most of its fruit. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 47 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 264 only in clove and the 9 only in gin.
Clove and gin questions
Do clove and gin go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 26 recipes, and they share 47 flavor molecules: the top 24% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do clove and gin taste good together?
Almost everything gin carries, clove has too: 47 of gin's 56 flavor molecules also occur in clove. Among the shared key aromas are alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine) and myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
What goes with clove and gin?
Cinnamon is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with clove and top 27% with gin. Allspice and ginger also fit both.
What can you make with clove and gin?
Almost always baking: 1 of the 1 recipes with a course label are baking. Common dishes include Tomato Ketchup.
Can I use gin instead of clove?
Only partly. Most of gin's flavor molecules (47 of 56) are also found in clove, but clove has 264 that gin lacks. Gin gives you part of clove's character without most of its fruit. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
Compare other ingredients
Ranks compare this pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. Molecule counts are what the studies and databases we aggregate have reported for each ingredient: a measure of coverage, not a full census. How we score pairs
Cite this analysis
Compound Kitchen (2026). Compound similarity analysis: Clove vs Gin. https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-gin. Accessed 2026-11-06.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_clove_vs_gin_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Clove vs Gin},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/clove-vs-gin},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-06}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.